Harry Potter: The Wolf Amongst The Sheep
by ScribesApprentice
Summary: What happens when a chance encounter leads an old family friend to meet 7 year old Harry? Could it be just what they both need to survive in this world? Dumbledore, Molly, Ron and other BASHING, just so you all know.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter: The Wolf Amongst The Sheep.

Chapter 1: Family Friends and Freedom.

 **A/N: Harry Potter, Hogwarts, the characters, objects and places all belong to Queen Joanne. Word of warning, this story will have plenty of bashing of Dumbledore, Molly, Ron the Malfoy's and probably several other characters as it comes to me. If you are not into that check out my other story.**

Saturday June 11th 1988, early afternoon.

The young boy with messy black hair, and stunning emerald eyes sat alone in the local park, enjoying the swing. These were his favourite times of the week, when it was quiet and he could enjoy the park on his own. He could play on whatever he wanted, without being glared at by the parents of the other kids, or being harassed by his cousin and Dudley's friends.

He still didn't understand why the other parents didn't like him and kept their children away from him, but according to his uncle it was because he was a 'freak'. He had looked up freak in the dictionary, but didn't know how he was one. So he lived for these moments when it was just him, alone in the world.

Of course the peace could not last. "Freak, imagine seeing you here. All alone as well." The grin that was on Dudley Dursleys face filled the boy with terror. Looking around he realised that he had nowhere to escape to. He had been distracted while enjoying the nice day and had failed to keep aware of his surroundings. And now he was going to suffer the consequences.

"We've told you before, this is out park. You are not welcome here freak!" This was from David, the boy standing to Dudleys left.

"Get him boys!" Yelled Dudley, and the gang made to do so, before they were interrupted.

"That will not be happening children. Go on, get out of here." This was said by a tall, balding, redheaded man walking up to the group. He was wearing a cheap suit, with a blue and gold tie, and appeared to be on the wrong side of 50. The gang looked between themselves before decided it was best to not cause trouble in front of an adult.

"We will be back for you freak." The words came over Dudley's shoulder as the group left.

The man watched them leave, waiting to make sure that they actually left, before turning back to the boy who was still half-on, half-off the swing. "Are you okay? My name is Remus."

"I'm fine, thank you. Remus? I know that name." At the words Remus' face lit up. 'Harry knows who I am! He must enjoy the gifts I've given him every year, and whoever is looking after him must have told him about me and his parents.' Everything came crashing down in a moment. "He was one of the twins who started Rome."

While Remus was happy that he was obviously a smart kid, not many seven year olds would know about Romulus and Remus, he was disappointed that his name didn't ring a more personal note with the boy. "While that is true, my name is also Remus. Remus Lupin. Have you ever heard of me?"

A look of concentration once again set on the boy's face, as he pondered the name. "Are you famous? Sorry I don't know." To Remus' shock the boy had a look of chagrin for not knowing.

"No I'm not famous. You are Harry are you not? Harry Potter?" The man waited for the boy to nod hesitantly at the question. "Actually Harry, I am a friend of your parents. James, Lily and I went to school together and your dad is the best friend I ever had." The names caught in his throats and he had to hold back tears. Some pain just didn't fade.

Harry looked at the man skeptically. "You went to school with my mum and dad?"

"Yes, Harry, I did. Do you want to see a trick?" At the boy's affirmation Remus looked around to make sure there was nobody watching the pair. He pulled a stick out of pocked and twirled it around. "Ta-da."

The boy, Harry, watched in fascination as the man changed before his eyes. Gone was the over-weight, balding redhead, and in his place was a much younger individual with light brown hair, that was just starting to grey. Harry would guess that he was in his early thirties.

"How? That not possible! Who are you?" While the boy was obviously fascinated, Remus could also see the fear in his eyes.

"Why did those kids call you freak? Is it because you can make things happen that others can't? I'm like you, I can make special things happen. I'm a wizard, a magical man. So was your father, and your mother was a witch, a magical woman. Your magical as well Harry, haven't you been told?" The man was starting to get worried about what he was observing from the boy.

"My uncle and aunt always say that magic isn't real." He was emotionless as he repeated their words.

Remus was shocked! "Your aunt? Petunia?"

"Yes. I live with her, uncle Vernon and my cousin Dudley, he was one of the boys earlier." Fear was visible on the boy's face as he remembered the earlier incident.

"You were never meant to go anywhere near them! What was Albus thinking?" The man didn't seem to be talking to Harry when he said his last outburst, which only added to Harry's confusion.

"I wasn't meant to live with my uncle and aunt? Who is Albus? Is magic real?" The questions poured out of the young Potter. The reminder of Lily's curiosity brought a smile to Remus' face.

"No, you were not meant to go to them when your parents passed away, your mother never wanted you to even meet Petunia because of your aunts hatred for your family. Albus Dumbledore? How do you not know Dumbledore and that magic is real?" Remus was starting to get the feeling that something was very wrong with this whole situation. 'How does Harry not know anything about who he is, our world and magic! And how did he end up with the Dursley's?' It was a fishy situation all around.

"I don't know a Albus Dumbledore, am I meant to? Does he live nearby?" Harry didn't want to be a trouble to the man, but he honestly didn't know anything about what he was talking about.

"We can talk more about that later, but first…" Remus funded around in his pocket before pulling out his 'stick' and a few small pieces of paper. He mumbled something under his breath that Harry couldn't catch and then the man was holding much larger paper. "Here are some photos that I always carry around with me, a few have your parents, or even you as a baby, if you want to see?"

"Yes please!" Was the boys excited response. He was handed a picture that had five people in it, 4 young men and a woman. On the woman's right was a man with messy dark hair that looked a fair bit like an older Harry. "Is this my dad?" He asked pointing to the man, and received an affirmative from Remus. "And is that my mum? She's pretty."

"Yes she was. And really smart, one of the smartest people I've ever met, and the nicest person too." Remus was happy to tell Harry about his parents, but angry that it was obviously the first time he had seen a picture of his parents. "That's me standing next to your dad, and Sirius and Peter on the other side of your mum, they were also school friends of ours."

Harry thought he sounded sad but didn't know why. "Can I meet them as well?"

"Sorry Harry they both died about the same time as your parents." It was a small lie, the first one he had told Harry, but knew the boy wasn't ready to learn the full truth.

"Were they in the car with me that killed my mum and dad?" While Harry's words shocked him, it was the lack of emotion that broke Remus' heart. It was that of a boy who only knew what a mum and dad were by looking on from the outside, so couldn't comprehend how much them dying had cost him.

"Your parents didn't die in a car crash! Is that what your uncle and aunt told you?" He waited as Harry quietly whispered a response of yes. "Lily and James were murdered, when you were a baby. An evil man, an evil wizard, decided he didn't like your parents because they were good people and he attacked them. He got defeated, but unfortunately not before your mum and dad had been killed." He let a few tears escape at this point.

Harry listened with fascination as he heard how his parents really died for the first time, and seeing the man crying he realised just how much Remus cared about his family. They both didn't say anything as Remus handed another photo over to Harry, this one of his parents holding a baby. This photo was different as it was moving and Harry watched his mum kiss the baby's hand and his dad kiss the baby's head both smiling at the camera.

"It's me." It was a simple statement, whispered so quietly that only an individual with enhanced senses could have picked it up. "They loved me."

Remus happened to have enhanced hearing and heard both of the things the boy whispered and came to a decision that would change both of their lives. He would not allow Harry to return to his relatives, and if the boy allowed it he would take him in himself.

A third photo changed hands, this one was his parents wedding day as they took a photo with Remus. A fourth followed which contained Remus holding baby Harry. The final photo was a photo of 4 young boys, only a handful of years older than Harry was, that he recognised as the men from the first photo.

"How are the photos moving? And why isn't the first one?" Harry's curiosity got the best of him.

"With magic many things are possible, and one of the things is to make magical photographs which are more like short videos on paper. The first one was when we returned from school our final year, before your parents marriage, and was taken by your mums parents who aren't magical, which is why it doesn't move." Remus watched the boy throughout his explanation, once again fascinated by the boy's fascination with learning anything new.

"Did you by chance get a new football for Christmas?" Remus had brought him a present, like for every Christmas and Birthday, and given it to Dumbledore to pass on.

"No. I've never been given a present before." The pain, sadness and lack of understanding evident on the child's face. Remus really hated seeing him like this, especially given how happy of a baby he had been.

"I brought you a nice Nike football to play with, it seems to have been lost in transition. And if you haven't received any of my other gifts over the years… We'll it seems that I owe you something to make up for it. How does this sound, if you are willing to come live with me, I will happily make it so you never have to see your aunt, uncle and cousin ever again, unless you wish to." Remus looked at the boy with a smile.

The boy seems ecstatic at the prospect of never seeing his relatives again. "I would like that Remus. When?"

"That depends, are there any toys or clothes from your aunts house that you want?" The boy vigorously shook his head to that. "Then take my hand and we can go now."

Remus held out his hand and Harry latched on, they smiled at each other before disappearing.

 **A/N: This chapter is a little short, but I wanted to get it up to see what people think. Please follow, favourite or review as that will make me write all the more faster.**

 **Apprentice.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two:

Saturday June 11th 1988, 7:25pm.

Remus stood in the doorway to his spare bedroom, well Harry's new bedroom, and watched the kid as he slept. He looked so cute curled up in the bed. He tried not to think about The boy's surprise at being given a room and a bed.

They had spent two hours shopping together that afternoon and it had exhausted Harry. Playing with so many toys, trying on different clothes, and the experience of going to a shopping centre in London, or anywhere, had been such a novel experience for Harry it had been a truly magical afternoon. On the flip side however it had helped wear him out which led to the unconscious boy he was watching at the moment.

With a quick flick of his wand he tidied up the mess that Harry had made, appearing to have played with every single one of his new toys in the short period between finishing his dinner and falling asleep. While Remus was good with money, he was happy for his credit card because he had splashed out of the kid. Not that it was cheap without all the toys, a complete new wardrobe for Harry saw too that.

Closing the door after casting a simple detection spell to alert him if the child awoke, he went to the kitchen to finish the dishes. While it was possible, and very easy, to do the dishes with magic, not to mention quicker, he preferred to do them by hand. He found the simply chore relaxing. It also afforded him a chance to plan what he had to say, and who to.

After all Harry Potter was famous and would be noticed missing soon. Remus didn't want to be arrested for kidnapping, he would be lucky too spend the rest of his life in Azkaban, but would probably get a death sentence. Between Harry being who he was, and Remus' furry little problem, it would not go well for him. 'I guess I should start with the Boss, he will understand and know what to do.'

Having finished the dishes, Remus checked on Harry one more time before apparating to his work building, a nondescript office building near Canary Wharf. Given that it was a little before 8pm on a Saturday the apparition room on the ground floor of the building was empty. The lobby was empty except for the watchman.

"Good evening Lupin, your working late. Had a good day?" As a squib he was well aware of magic, and knew the purpose of the apparition room.

"Yes it hasn't been bad. It has been interesting though. Can you let me up? Thanks George." The pair walked to the elevator together.

"It must always be interesting working here though?" A tapped hidden button and a spoken password brought four new floor buttons to the panel. Remus knew that the password changed every 5 minutes, and only the on duty guard knew what it was, and how the next password was chosen. Remus had long wanted to know more about the process, but also knew it defeated the purpose of all the layers of security. It would also be hard to explain to his boss that it wasn't because of anything malicious.

"Well it can be that, George. I'll see you later." He waved at the squib and pushed the button for the corresponding floor.

/

Knowing that his boss would be in his office, Remus didn't even stop at his desk and walked straight to the door his target was behind. Knocking and waiting several seconds to be acknowledged he turned the handle and walked it.

It was a spartan room, with a simple desk, two chairs in front and the occupied chair behind. The walls were bare, lacking even a single window. It showed with how pale the single occupant was. He looked up, his pale red eyes meeting Remus'.

"Lupin, you're late. We expected you to report back hours ago, and I was just contemplating sending out a team to search for you. Did you run into trouble?" Bartolommeo Friulano said to the man who had just entered his office. A slightest hint of an accent betrayed his heritage.

"The mission went smoothly. I got in and added the extra ward, without anyone looking at me twice. It was afterwards when I was on my way back that things got complicated." Remus shuffled a little on his feet, wishing he had been asked to sit down.

"Yes, and?" Bartolommeo's time was valuable, he didn't want to have to jump through hoops to get answers.

"Well, I came across a smell, a scent from my past, as I was walking towards Delta. I decided to take a quick detour, just to reassure myself that I was wrong. I found Harry Potter, being bullied, living in the non-magical world. He had no knowledge of the world he belongs to. He was living with his mothers sister, who hated Lily and despises magic. I haven't looked yet, but he has obviously been emotionally abused and potentially physically. It gets worse." Having given up waiting to be asked to be seated, he crossed the room and sat down anyway.

"Are you sure? I know you knew he parents well, but you can't let your emotions cloud your judgement." Bartolommeo had watched many a good man let emotions cause them to make mistakes.

"Yes. I believe he has been an experiment by Albus Dumbledore. Albus said back in '81 that he was going to make sure Harry was looked after and would be safe from Deatheaters, and I admit putting him in the normal world would do that, but… Lily never wanted her sister anywhere near Harry, knowing she couldn't be trusted. Also my many gifts that I have given Albus to pass on haven't been done so. Harry has never received a present, and his cloths were obviously the wrong size and second hand. I talked with him, showed him pictures of his parents which was a first for him, and then asked if he wanted to ever go back to his relatives. He said no. I took him home with me." Remus trailed off.

"Shit! This could be bad, for both of us! Dumbledore will do everything in his power to track Harry down. If he catches you… Azbakan or the veil, and I won't be able to protect you. What do you want?" Bartolommeo had stood up and started to pace.

"Your friend, the judge? Get me a appointment with him in his office. I'll present the evidence and ask for custody of Harry. Make it legal. I won't let him return to them!" Now that he had a plan of attack, Remus was feeling much more confident.

"I'll set it up. Are you sure you want to do this? With your job, it's not easy to raise a kid. You will also make a powerful enemy, even if he doesn't know it's you." While he approved of Remus' course of action, he had to make sure he knew what he was getting into.

"I'm all he has left! His parents are dead. Sirius… Well Sirius did what he did. His relatives obviously are suitable to raise any child, let alone Harry. I have to step up, even with my problem. I also am getting an uneasy feeling about how this all is going down. What was Albus thinking? He knows about Lily and her sister. Also why didn't he pass on my presents? Harry hadn't even heard the name before, if he was his guardian why isn't he checking in on him? Why isn't he talking with Harry, telling him about his parents, about magic, about everything?" By this time Remus was also pacing.

"There is something you need to see." Bartolommeo stood up and walked to the left side of the room before putting his hand on it. The section of wall slid back and to the side, creating a door way.

The pair walked through into a hidden room that Remus had never seen before. The walls were covered with diagrams, journal articles, pictures and hand written notes. All of which branched away from the picture in the middle of the back wall. Albus Dumbledore.

"What is all this?" Remus was fascinated, moving from one area to another, reading everything his eyes scanned.

"You know why we were started?" It wasn't the question Remus was expecting.

"Of course. All employees do. The government and Crown weren't confident in the ministry of Magic and its ability to stop the rising threat of Voldemort. So they created the MI-M, to work from a non-magical side to protect the entire kingdom. Through trial and error it became obvious that while it was a great idea, magicals were needed and it changed into a Non-Magical Government controlled agency run by magicals." Remus was proud to work for MI-M, even if only a handful of people who weren't employees had heard of it, and he could tell nobody where he worked. Not that he had people to tell anymore.

"Yes. One of the first things we realised is just why the Ministry couldn't handle Voldemort. They didn't want to. And Dumbledore was the reason for that. We don't know why, but we assume he has some master plan. Everything we have gathered is here." As he said this he indicated around the room.

"Why am I only just learning about this?" Remus was shocked.

"Your belief in Dumbledore is well known. We understand how grateful you are for him letting you into Hogwarts, but it wasn't until you came to your own realisation that he was up to something that I decided you were ready to know." Bartolommeo didn't seem bothered about keeping such a big secret from Remus.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Remus seemed ready to let his other side rip Dumbledore limb from limb.

"Look after Potter. In the future we will see. There may be an opportunity in the future for you to take a job at Hogwarts which would be perfect, but for now stick to regular duties." Allowing Remus a quick final look, he directed him back to his office. "Go back to the boy, I'll get the ball rolling here."

With that they shook hands and went about their business, one writing notes to several different people, the other going to check on a 7 year old child.

/

Albus Dumbledore was not having a great day, and it had started so well. A piece of legislation that he wanted to pass, at least in private settings, had passed restricting goblins from being able to purchase land in the U.K. While he had publicly criticised the idea, he had pulled the string ensuring it would pass.

After that he had a staff meeting to discuss the year, in which he made sure that nothing to serious would change for the next year at Hogwarts. With the end of the meeting in sight things had started to fall apart.

First a single instrument, one of the many he had scattered around the office, started to spin. It was a minor alert, simply telling him that a magical individual was within 2 miles of where an important chess piece was. As the meeting progressed he kept an eye on the instrument next to it which would tell him if that individual was within a mile, believing that unless that went off he wouldn't have to leave to make sure nothing would happen.

The meeting wasn't going overly well, his deputy kept insisting that he discipline Snape. The other heads of house also backed McGonagall and Dumbledore had consented to promising to talk to Severus and some other such nonsense he had any intention of doing. Then chaos broke out.

A half dozen instruments started to whir, rotate or some other type of motion, with another letting of a klaxon, and two flashed every colour of the rainbow. Something in regards to Harry Potter had just happened, and it wasn't good for his plans. Without even saying a word to the staff, he stood up, crossed to his fireplace and disappeared in the floo.

He was soon storming up to the door at 4 Privet Drive, throwing it open without even knocking. "Where is he!" Albus bellowed out.

A scream from the kitchen echoed him, followed by the sounds of a very heavy individual heading towards him. Around a corner came Vernon Dursley, red in the face. Whether it was from anger or from the effort of walking, Dumbledore couldn't tell.

"Get out of here freak! We don't want anything to do with your kind!" The fear was evident in his eyes, even as he yelled back. Petunia was just visible behind him.

"Where is Harry! What have you done to him this time?" Panic, for the first time in decades, coursing through Dumbledore.

"We haven't seen the freak all day. Like every Saturday he left this morning. Now get out of here!" Finally feeling brave Vernon started to advance on Dumbledore.

Taking a second to read the mans mind, just to ascertain the truth, Albus turned and left the house. Casting a quick tracking spell he found that the trace spells he had attached to Harry had been dispelled, meaning he worst fears were coming to fruition. Somebody magical had found Harry Potter.

Was it somebody in Law Enforcement or power who could cause problems for him? Was it somebody who took the chance to kidnap the famous Harry Potter? Was it somebody who though they had kidnapped a muggle born wizard? Was it a deatheather? Too many possibilities, not enough answers.

As he was wandering aimlessly around the neighbourhood, hoping that there would be something to give him a clue as to what happened, he heard something that caught his attention. "Dudley, lets go back to the park. The freak will be alone now."

It came from a group of six boys, and Dumbledore just knew they were talking about Harry. Following the group to a park, he managed to get a glimpse into several of the boy's minds, learning what had occurred not long before. The problem was the redheaded individual did not look familiar to Albus. Meaning either it was a nobody taking an opportunity, or somebody hidden with polyjuice or self-transfiguration.

Looking around the park, which the boys were quick to leave upon discovering that Harry had left the area, there was nothing for him. So he turned on the spot, disappearing to arrive in Hogsmead for the long trot back up to the castle.

Now he was sitting in his office, nursing a large tumbler of firewhiskey. Dumbledore didn't usual drink, given the tendency for individuals to lose control of themselves under the influence of alcohol, but this felt like a drinking occasion. He had lost Harry Potter.

The public would demand his head when they found out. It wasn't something he could hide or cover up, it was just a matter of time before it came out. That time being the 2nd of September 1991 at the latest when it came out that Harry Potter was not at Hogwarts. He had made a big deal when the Potters died that only he would be able to keep the boy safe, said as much to the Wizengamot, and he had failed.

All that he had done. All that he had achieved. All that he had planned. It would all mean nothing because of today. Disputed it all, only a dozen years away from achieving his ultimate goal that had been a century in the works it had all fallen apart. And the worse part was he didn't know who was responsible.

"Albus, what is going on? You never drink! The staff is worried about your disappearance earlier, you need to tell me what happened." He was so distracted he didn't even notice his deputy's arrival. It was only Minerva speaking that alerted him to her presence.

"Harry Potter is missing. Those were supposed to keep track of him, tell me how he was doing, and when they all went off during the meeting I knew something was wrong. He has disappeared and the only clue I have is a person who given magic I can't even tell you their gender. I as good as dead." He took a swig of his drink as he lazily pointed to the instruments around the room.

"Harry is missing? How did this happen! How did you let this happen!" Minerva lost control and almost sent a curse his way.

"He went to a park a little over a mile from his house. I hadn't planned on him going that far so young, so didn't have strong enough safety measures in place that far out." The alcohol was making him admit things he probably wouldn't otherwise, even to a woman he trusted as completely as Minerva.

"There are ways to find him Albus. Put a tracking charm on a letter and post it to him. Or a portkey. Or Fawkes, use Fawkes to transport you to him. Get to Aurors to help, it's what they are trained for. Ask the Unspeakables, they might have a trick or two." Minerva said every idea that came to mind, knowing none of them would work.

"Brilliant ideas Minerva. I will try them all in the morning when…" he didn't finish his sentence as he passed out, falling and hitting his head on the desk. He really wasn't used to alcohol.

Minerva shook her head as she turned to leave. 'What a waste of good firewhiskey.' she thought seeing the liquid spilled on the floor.

 **A/N: Here is the second chapter of TWATS, the acronym I am using for The Wolf Amongst The Sheep, mainly because of that twats I'm going to be bashing in this fic. Hope you all like this chapter, and I hope it's beginning to answer questions started in the first instalment. The MI-M is obviously based off MI-5 and MI-6, with the M standing for Magic. In case you can't tell between this and my other fic I believe McGonagall a badass, despite her mistakes, and she will play a major role in both. Daniel6, no I won't be bashing Hermione. Please review and tell me what you think, and please follow and favourite the story!**

 **Apprentice.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three: Passing Time.

Wednesday February 8th 1989, 7pm.

'Okay, Harry, you can to this. Simple as can be. You've seen Moony do this before, just copy his actions.' Finished with his self-pep talk he took a couple of breaths. Holding up Remus' wand he released what he thought was his magic. "Reparo!" The drain was more than he expected, and he just had time to see the fixed picture frame before everything went black.

"Harry time to brush your teeth and get ready for bed." Remus opened the door and was shocked what he found. Harry was hanging half off the bed, with Remus' wand on the ground beneath the right arm that was over the edge of the bed, and clutched in Harry's left had was the frame that held the picture of Lily and James holding baby Harry.

Quickly surmising what had happened, he rushed over to the boy and snatched up the wand to cast every healer detection spell he knew. Unfortunately he only knew the basics. Laying Harry in his bed he rushed to the floo connection in the living room.

Grabbing a pinch of powder off the mantle he threw it in the fire and yelled out the desired location. In a flash he was gone, leaving the apartment and arriving at the medical office at his work. "Healer Trot, I need your assistance for a moment. Harry borrowed my wand and tried a spell, and is magically drained. Can you come please?"

Like all medical professionals Callum Trot dropped everything to go help out a child. The son of a Doctor and Nurse, and a first generation magical, Callum had always wanted to follow in his parents path, and after finding out about magic had changed his dream from becoming a doctor to a healer.

He had quickly found out just how hard it was to make it in any Ministry-controlled field as a muggle-born, and St. Mungo's fit that bill. He had jumped at the opportunity to work for Her Majesty' Government where that bias didn't exist, and had enjoyed his six years at the MI-M.

Following the agent through the floo he arrived at Remus' apartment, for only the third time. He first came to assess Harry all those months ago, and secondly came with his father who assessed the boy for the muggle side of proceedings. He was just hoping it could have been in better circumstances that he was back.

Going into Harry's bedroom he started casting the usual spells for this sort of accident, and was thankful that the results were normal. "Well nothing much to worry about, Remus. His magical reserves are a little low, but rest and extra large portions of food for the next few days. No school for the next few days, probably to the end of the week, just reading, maybe a movie, that sort of low energy activities. Will you be taking the time off as well? I will let the boss know. He will be fine."

They were just leaving the room when Harry woke up, surprised at the presence of the two in his room. "Whaa you here Callum?" The boy mumbled out before remembering what he had been doing.

In a panic he sat up eyes scanning the room desperately before the pain hit him. It was split between a pounding headache and sore muscles across his body. "Ow!"

"Lie back in bed, Harry." Callum came back into the room and gently set the boy on his back. "I'm here because Remus was worried about you, after you did what you did. Now can you listen to me for a moment about something important?"

The boy nodded, eyes wide open. "Do you know why children don't go to Hogwarts until they are 11 years old? It's because until they are around that age their magic is not stable, and using magic can be dangerous. That pain you feel is body trying to recover. You must promise me that you will not try to do magic into you are older. Can you do that for me Harry?"

The boy tentatively nodded at the healer and tried to hide in his bed. Saying good night to both of them, Callum returned to his work.

/

Saturday February 11th 1989, 11:30am.

"Harry, can you come in here? I have a gift for you?" Remus had popped out of the apartment while Harry was distracted and was hoping the kid would enjoy the effort. Harry came into the lounge, the excitement coming off him palpable.

"Did you really get me a present Moony? It's not my birthday or Christmas." He seemed both confused and skeptical, on top of the obvious excitement.

"Callum told you that you cannot do magic for the next few years, and I agree with him completely, but that does not mean you can't learn about it." He pulled two books from behind his back. "With that in mind I brought you these."

Harry loved reading, and practically snatched the books out of Remus' outstretched hand. 'Magic for Minors' and 'Entry Level Magic' were the titles to the books. "Thank you Remus!"

The man couldn't help but smile at the boy. 'James was never that enthusiastic to learn, or he hid it very well.' "You are most welcome Harry. Now any questions you have, come ask me. And remember, you can't tell anybody at school." He tried to look stern, but if Harry's giggling was an indication he was failing.

"I know Moony. Magic is secret and needs to stay that way." He had been told that many times in the months that he had been living with Remus.

"Speaking of school, how are your finding your new school?" A new school had been in order after Remus took Harry in, and he made sure to inquire about it every few weeks.

"It's good. We are reading a book in class called the lion in the wardrobe and it's amazing." The boy continued talking about all that was happening in all his subjects and his new friends, and Remus reflected once again how something so simple could bring him such joy. Harry brought him joy.

/

Saturday April 22nd 1989, 6:15pm.

Having finished dinner, Harry turned his attention towards the guest at the table, Callum. "What did you bring for us to play this week?"

It had become a fortnightly event, when Callum would come for dinner and bring a card or board game. It was one of Harry's favourite parts of the month when Callum visited. "This week we have "pass the pigs"." He pulled a small case out of a pocket as he said this.

Going on to explain how the game worked, the three had a wonderful evening, full of laughs. It was a great way to end the week.

/

Saturday July 1st 1989, 8pm.

Remus and Callum were doing the dishes after another games night. They had settled on takeout for food, given how time consuming the choice of game was. Monopoly.

Remus had won, which was a rarity on these games nights, given he seemed to have neither skill nor luck at them. Finishing with the dishes, he led the healer into the living area for a drink of firewhiskey.

"How's life in the trenches?" If everything went right they didn't see each other at work, so only had the time after games night to catch up.

"It's good. Thankfully we haven't been deployed on any Delta missions in over a month, so mainly been on recon and intelligence gathering duty. It's not the most exciting, but it is safe and I've got Harry to think about nowadays so don't like too risky missions." Remus didn't voice it, but he was actually worried. A stretch of quiet like this usually ended in a bad way.

"Yeah I wondered, business has been slow for me as well. Not that I'm complaining. The less of you brutes I have to see a week, the better." They shared a laugh at this and raised their glasses in a toast. "How's Harry doing? You've had him for a year now."

Remus took a moment to answer, something that Callum picked up on. "He's doing really well at school, at or near the top of his class. He's made friends, and is more comfortable around both kids his age and adults. I think Harry is doing really well."

"But?" The healer gently pushed.

"It's expensive raising a kid. More than I thought. We get by, just, but money is tight. I'm happy Harry doesn't ask for much, but yeah." It felt good to have a friend who he could be honest with. The guys in operations at work were fine, but the relationship was different. It was the first time since the Marauders that he felt that he could be that open.

Callum nodded along throughout. "It always comes back to money, doesn't it? Your smart Remus, and you don't spend money frivolously, you should be fine. Hopefully a position will come up at the MI-M with more pay. Ask Friulano if there is anything coming up. If you ever need a free baby-sitter, give me a buzz."

"Yeah I will do. Need a top up?" They moved on to more enjoyable topics, such as Callum's team Tottenham and their recent addition, Gary Lineker.

/

Sunday July 2nd 1989, 8:30am.

Remus was making breakfast when Harry entered, a bowl in his hands. "Good morning Harry, what have you got there?"

"It's for you." Harry said shyly, handing the man the bowl. In it was Harry's savings.

Looking down at the contents Remus was confused until he remembered the conversation the night before. "Were you listening to me and Callum last night, Harry?"

The boy nodded shyly. "Harry look at me. Thank you, but you can keep your allowance. While it is true that I don't make as much as I would like, we get by." Remus handed the bowl back to the boy.

"Moony you have given me so much. This is all I have, and I want you to have it." Moony meant everything in the world to Harry, and Harry would do anything for him, even give up his £12.

"Thank you Harry, it means a lot to me that you mean that. It's very generous Harry. It's not everything you have, remember your Gringotts vault." Not watching the kid he didn't see the expression of confusion.

"What's Gringotts? What's a vault?" Neither are common words for an 8 year old who has grown up in the muggle world.

"You don't know about your Gringotts vault? What am I saying, of course you don't if you didn't use to know about the magical world. Gringotts is the bank of wizarding Britain, run by goblins. The Potter family has a bank account with them, called vaults, and your dad made one for you when you were born. It has the fortune your grandfather and great-grandfather made, which is now yours. If you don't know about it, we will have to go check on it at some point to make sure everything that is meant to be in it still is." This brought about another batch of worries for Remus.

"You aren't working today Moony, we can go soon!" Like always, Harry was incredibly enthusiastic to learn anything new about the magical world.

"Okay Harry, we can go today. Now remember our promise, don't talk to anybody without me there. Keep your hat on, and your name is Harry Lupin." While they hadn't gone to Diagon Alley or anywhere else in the magical world together, Remus had made these rules to keep Harry safe.

"Yes, Remus. Can you tell me why again?" The child looked up at Remus.

"Because, Harry, you are famous because of what happened to your parents and many people would take advantage of you. Many bad witches and wizards would like to hurt you. And remember Dumbledore who we have talked about? He would like nothing more than to send you back to your Aunt and Uncle, so stay near me and be careful who you look at and talk to." Having reiterated the necessity of their actions he sent Harry to go get a jacket, his shoes and a bucket hat, while looking for the documentation needed. Soon the pair were disapparating out of the apartment.

/

Harry hadn't said a word since the arrived at the run down pub, thinking it was a complete disappointment up until the bricks from the back wall created there doorway. From then on he was too busy trying to take in everything to utter a word.

Simply point it was the most amazing thing Harry had ever seen. All of it was. From the potions to the brooms. It all reached a crescendo when the arrived at a large marble building, that seemed to be haphazardly put together.

"This is Gringotts, cub. Now be weary of the goblins, they are greedy and untrustworthy with an unhealthy love of gold. If you are ruthless and business minded they will respect you enough to not try and cheat you. As a child they are honourable enough to not steal from you, but this is a warning for when you are older." Remus wasn't happy being so strict with Harry, but he hadn't been expecting to bring Harry hear for a few more years so hadn't prepared the kid.

"What is ruthless? What is busyness midded?" Harry chewed over the words.

Remus couldn't help but laugh. "They are both to do with how you treat people, but we will go over them when you are older. Now let's go meet the goblins."

Escorting the boy up the stairs he nodded at the heavily armed guards standing on either side of the doors, one of whom opened the door for them. Thankfully it was a Sunday, so not many wizards were conducting business with the bank.

With Harry beside him, they approached a teller. "Excuse me, Raggedclaw." Name tags were so helpful. "We need to discuss the boy here's vaults, I would prefer to do it in private if that can be arranged?"

The goblin eyed Remus for a moment, and then shifted his eyes to Harry and evaluated the boy. "Such services have a fee." He then looked down at the papers on his desk obviously dismissing the pair.

Harry watched as Remus pulled a handful of gold coins out of his pocket at watched him count out 4. "Will that suffice?" Remus asked the goblin.

Raggedclaw swept the coins into a tray, pocketing one in the process, and locked it away before placing a 'closed' sign on the counter. "Follow me."

The pair filled him through a doorway and down a windy hallway, thoroughly losing their way in the process. Eventually they came to a door that the goblin opened. Inside the room was a simple desk with four chairs on one side and a single, more ornate, chair on the other side. It was this chair that Raggedclaw situated himself in.

"What business is it that you wished to have with Gringotts today?" Goblins didn't like to waste time or words.

"It will be best if a goblin well versed in the law was present. Both wizard law, but more importantly the banks laws." Remus' words brought a change of expression to the goblin, what Harry would have guessed was annoyance.

"It will cost you." Both Harry and the goblin watched as Remus produced more gold from his pocket. Writing a note on a piece of paper it folded itself up and then burst into flames. "As you wish."

As the minutes ticked by Harry grew restless. Remus seemed to be asleep, and the goblin was reading papers and writing notes on what he read. Finally Harry snapped. "How old are you, Mr. Goblin, sir?"

The goblins eyes snapped up and focused on the boy, analysing what he saw. Remus didn't so much as twitch. "I am 62 years old, using the system you humans use." His eyes stayed on the boy.

"Is that old for a goblin?" Now that the cat was out of the bag, Harry couldn't curb his enthusiasm for learning.

"Actually I am fairly young for a goblin, probably the equivalent of a human in their early 20's. Goblins live over 200 years for the most part." He didn't know why he was telling a human child all this, but he was intrigued by the boy.

"But twenty is old!" The boys statement brought a laugh to the goblin, a sound that wasn't as pleasant as one would assume a laugh to be.

"To one as young as you, 20 may seem old, but when you reach 60, 30 is young." Any further discussion was stopped when the door opened, which finally caused Remus to open his eyes. "Ah, Inktooth, good of you to join us. These clients requested the presence of a legal professional." The two goblins then proceeded to have a conversation in a language that Harry didn't recognise.

The pair of goblins abruptly stopped talking, and the newer of the two turned to Remus, who handed him the gold coins. They were in the goblins pocket so quickly that Harry almost missed it. The goblin then pulled one of the spare chairs to the end of the desk and sat down, facing the humans.

"A year ago I took over guardianship of Harry here, and today I learnt that he did not know about Gringotts, let alone his vault here. Given how suspect his treatment prior to coming to me was, it raised concerns about the state of his affairs here." It was the best place Remus could think of to start.

"I see why you would require my presence. Do you have the necessary documentation to prove your status?" Inktooth was happy to accept the documents Remus handed over on request. He took time to check the validity of the papers before starting to read them. He was shocked at what he found. "This is Harry Potter? THE Harry Potter?"

Raggedclaw also seemed to be surprised at the outburst by his colleague. "Harry Potter?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes Harry Potter. You can test him soon, after Inktooth gets through the paperwork." He turned to Harry. "I told you that you were famous." He laughed at the boys shock.

Remus watched as the legal-goblins expression kept changing, as he read more and more of what was provided. "Terrible business! Absolutely terrible! That a child, especially one such as Harry, has had to experience such a life is unforgivable. Do you have the vault key?"

Remus turned to the boy. "Have you ever been given a key? It would be a large gold key." Harry shook his head at the question. "We will need the lock on the vault to be changed and a new key issued. Today."

Raggedclaw nodded and started to write out a note. Inktooth however spoke up to stop him. "We need to verify identities first." He stood up and walked around the desk to pull out a stone dagger and several stone tablets.

"I will go first, to show Harry how to do it and that it is okay." Remus accepted the dagger and cut the pad of his right thumb, letting blood drip from the cut onto a tablet held out by the goblin. As Remus pulled out his wand and healed the cut, Harry watched as the blood seeped into the tablet only to be replaced by letters. Letters that were etched into the stone one after another. After R-E-M-U-S L-U-P-I-N was spelled out the number 4227 followed.

After wiping the blade clean on a cloth, Remus handed it to Harry with a reassuring smile. Steeling up his courage, the child cut his thumb and let his blood drip onto the other tablet that was now being held out by Inktooth. This time it was his name spelled out, along with two numbers. 687 and 764. Handing both tablets to the other goblin, Inktooth sat back in his chair.

Pulling out a new type of parchment Harry had never seen before, Raggedclaw wrote something on it. Reading over the paper he handed it to Inktooth, who scanned the paper and then handed it to Remus. Remus allowed Harry to read it with him.

' **Vault 764 Statement** ' was written at the top, and the rest was a bunch of dates and numbers. Every year on the 31st of December 1000 galleons was transferred into vault 687, going back to 1984. There were also deposits of different amounts all through the year. None of it meant anything to Harry. The words at the bottom, 164,323 galleons, 87,692 sickles and 326, 911 knuts, also meant nothing to Harry.

"As far as I can tell everything is in order, but I would like to take the complete records back to the start of 1980 home with me when we go, so I can study them in depth. I will need to teach Harry about his finances as he gets older." Remus got an affirmative from Raggedclaw who made a note of the request.

Producing another piece of the special parchment, the goblin banker wrote something on it and then read the page. He didn't seem to like the results so pulled out a new piece of parchment and repeated the process. Obviously getting the same result he furrowed his brow and handed the paper to Inktooth.

The legal-goblin seemed very angry at what was written and hurriedly wrote out a note, which folded itself up and then burst into flame. He handed the parchment to Remus.

' **Vault 687 Statement** ' this one seemed easier for Harry to read and understand. On the 31st of December each year 1000 galleons was deposited in the account. Harry, remembering the earlier statement worked out that that meant 1000 galleons, whatever they were, were put into the vault from vault 764. Then something called A.P.W.B.D took those galleons out at some point during the next fortnight. The bottom of the statement read 0 galleons, 0 sickles, 0 knuts.

"Even this year? Even after Harry went missing, to the best of his knowledge, the bastard was still stealing his money?" Remus seemed furious, until he saw how Harry responded to the anger. With fear. He pulled the boy into a hug. "It's okay Harry, I'm not angry at you! Somebody has been stealing from you, but no more. What can Gringotts do about this?" That last part was directed at the two goblins on the room.

"I will be conducting a full review personally. To make sure it is as comprehensive as possible allow me a week and meet me back here on Saturday?" It was Inktooth who responded. "Is there anything else Gringotts can do for you today?"

Remus thought for a moment before realising it was the perfect opportunity to get some answers. "Would you be able to find out if James and Lily Potter ever filed a Will or stored a copy here at Gringotts? I am starting to question the lack of one in 1981, given how convenient that has turned out for a certain individual."

Before he had even finished speaking, Inktooth had reached out and grabbed a piece of paper off the table. After writing out Remus' request it disappeared in the same manner as the earlier notes. "I just sent a message to our Inheritance Department. If there is a Will, we will know soon enough." Having said his piece he turned to the other goblin and started having a conversation with him, in their special language.

It was only a short time, during which Harry watched the pair of goblins talk and write out note after note, some of which burst into flames while others didn't, before the door opened again. In rushed another goblin who handed an envelope to Inktooth and whispered something to him, before departing.

"It appears that the Potter's did have a Will." Inktooth paused to open the envelope and read what was entailed. "Apart from several friends who receive endowments, all the rest goes to Harry. Mr. Lupin, 10,000 galleons is meant for you, do you wish to have it shifted into your vault now?" Remus could only nod in shock, as Inktooth passed the Will to Raggedclaw who started the paperwork to make sure the described amount went to each of the people mentioned.

/

The pair had stopped for ice cream, given its convenient location in Daigon Alley, and the selection blew Harry away. They enjoyed the casual environment, and after they were finished went for a walk through both Diagon Alley, and London.

Harry was even treated to some new books on magic, including, or so Remus told him, some first year Hogwarts text books. Harry couldn't wait to get home and start reading them, but on the other hand was enjoying the time with Remus too much to ask to go home yet. After all they were his books now, we would have plenty of chances to read them later.

 **A/N: Chapter three of TWATS done and dusted. There was so much I wanted to put into this chapter, given that it was meant to get us up to the months leading up to Harry going to Hogwarts, but it was just getting a bit long and dry in my opinion. I am planning on having Hogwarts start in the next chapter, with flashbacks to cover the intervening time. What do you all think so far? Please review.**

 **Apprentice.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Hogwarts bound.

The excitement continued to grow in the boy, until he thought it would come bursting out. For around an hour he had been sitting on his own, struggling to focus on his book, not taking in a word of it. After all this was the big day.

He also felt fear at what was coming. While he wanted this badly, he had been thoroughly warned about the dangers ahead. After all, not everyone wanted the best for him where he was going.

Looking out the window he saw the hills rolling by, with a river beside the track that he was on. Turning back to his book he tried to ignore the fact that he was on his way to Hogwarts. Hogwarts, for several years now it was a fairytale: always on the horizon but too far away to grasp, and he could hardly believe the time had come.

A school in a castle, where the subjects were magic and the grounds themselves were practically magical. A place where a student could find Centaurs and unicorns, Merpeople and ghosts. It sounded amazing to Harry.

On the flip side of that however was the dangers that awaited Harry at the castle. It was the seat of Dumbledores power, and while Remus didn't know why he had acted as he had towards Harry when he was a baby, Remus had given Harry ample warning to be careful around the old wizard.

There was also Severus Snape, the Potions Master at the school. Moony had told him of the mans creepy affection for Harry's mother, which bordered on that of a stalker. He also vehemently despised James Potter. It was highly likely that he would try to humiliate Harry every chance he got.

There were also the problems that Harry's fame would raise. People who wanted to use him for their own gain, whether political or financial, was a very real possibility. Many of whom would be kids his own age, or slightly older, who would be commanded by their parents to befriend him and wait until they left Hogwarts to cash it in.

There were also the kids of Death Eaters who would be going to the school, who likely would be influenced by their parents views. He would have to be on guard at all times, even in his own dorm, but especially when he was out and about around the castle.

It was because of this that Remus, with the help of several trusted colleagues, had set about doing some pre-Hogwarts training for Harry. It had covered everything from Potion making and detecting, to Occlumency. Manners and Wizarding customs, to shield spells.

Everything he had been taught was for a reason. From all the reports Snape was a bad Professor and would likely be even worse with Harry so he needed lessons outside of Snape's class to prepare him for that subject. Love potions, or even more sinister potions, could be easily slipped into his food and drink so he would need to be able to detect them.

Snape and Dumbledore were both skilled at reading minds, and so Harry needed to be able to protect his mind from at least passive Legilimency. While it was unlikely he would be able to hold out for long under a sustained attack, they wouldn't be able to get in without casting the spell, which meant he just had to stay away from being trapped alone in a room with either of them.

If Harry did get attacked, either with combat spells or Legilimens, he knew several different shield spells that he could cast for protection. They were not as strong as they would be when he was older, but they would hopefully keep him safe until an older student or teacher could arrive. For this reason, and several others, they had refused to teach him more than the disarming charm and Stupefy on the offensive end. Harry, however, had already read all his class books for the year and practiced many of the spells.

While Remus didn't care about Pureblood customs, and neither did Harry, they both realised the benefits of knowing them. Harry didn't care if he insulted somebody by breaking customs, but realised that at times you caught more flies with honey. There would undoubtedly be times when respecting customs would be helpful, and so a legal consultant from Remus work, Mrs. Tonks, had been nice enough to teach him.

Remus had also told Harry that he would have an ally at Hogwarts who would look out for him, but for both their protection he hadn't told Harry who it was. Harry had worked out that it must be one of the staff or year seven students, because no one else would be able to help much. If Harry had to bet, he would say a member of staff, but probably not a Professor.

The train kept rolling on, as Harry continued to struggle to focus on the potions textbook for first year. He really wanted second year books, but Remus had not allowed him to buy any, even with Harry's own money. Remus generally allowed Harry to spend 500 of his 1000 galleons how he wanted, but had the power to veto anything, which he had used on the second year textbooks. He said it was for Harry's best interest to focus on this years classes.

Hearing a tweet he looked over at the gorgeous pure white owl that he had brought so that he could send letters to Remus. Hedwig, he was discovering, was an incredibly intelligent owl, which made Harry happy because she wouldn't get followed back to Remus. Setting the book to the side he walked to her cage and fed her an owl treat. "Sorry girl, but I can't let you out until we get to Hogwarts."

He was interrupted when there was a knock on the door to his compartment. Instantly on guard he opened the door to find a chubby boy who looked about his age. "Excuse me, have you seen a toad? His name is Trevor and he's escaped."

"Sorry haven't seen a toad. I'll grab him if I see him though." Reaching through the cage bars, he scratched Hedwigs head. The owl responded by giving his finger a light peck.

"Thank you." And with that the boy was gone, off searching for his lost pet.

Closing the door, shaking his head at the weirdness of the magical world, Harry sat back down and picked up the book. With firm resolve, he settled into researching the Wiggenweld Potion, reading up on the ingredients and process to brew it and its uses.

It was a fair few minutes later, when he heard another knock at the door, that he realised he had taken in nothing from the book. Having not locked it this time he called out that it was fine to open the door. A bushy haired girl opened the door, with the earlier boy visible over her shoulder.

"Neville here has lost his pet toad. Have you seen it?" This came from the girl.

"No, I haven't. I would recommend asking a Prefect or senior student to use a detection spell." If amused Harry that it wasn't their first idea, after all it was easy and would be quick.

"Where are the Prefects? _Hogwarts a History_ says the are recognisable because of their badges, but it doesn't say where they are on the train." The girl seemed put out that the book didn't have the answer.

"I know that they used to have the first carriage, so perhaps that would be the best place to start?" Remus had told him about what the journey was like when he was a student at Hogwarts.

The pair turned to leave and made it a couple of steps before the girl turned back to face him. "Well are you coming?"

Harry couldn't help but shake his head at her attitude, but stood up to go with them. "Watch my stuff Hedwig, I will be back soon." Closing the door behind him the trio took off towards the front of the train.

"Hello Neville, my name is Harry." Harry told the boy as he walked next to him, the girl leading the way.

"Nice to meet you Harry, thank you for helping me. That is Hermione." He, of course, was pointing to the determined looking girl marching in front of the pair.

That was enough to catch Hermione's attention, as she realised how rude she was being. "I'm Hermione Granger, first year. Pleased to meet you, Harry…?"

The question was evident in her tone. "Wolfenstein, Harry Wolfenstein." That caught her attention as she looked at him quizzicality, confirming his suspicions that she was muggleborn. "No relation."

The girl, Hermione, nodded and set off again as the boy's started following her once more. "No relation? Who aren't you related to?"

"There is a game in the muggle world with Wolfenstein playing an important role. Are you a first year as well? I am." Harry and Remus had thought that this was a hilarious cover until they were ready to reveal who he really was later, especially because of Remus' furry little problem.

That had come as quite a shock to Harry, when he found out that not just were Werewolves real, but that Remus was one. It had led to an honest talk between the pair, where Remus told him the truth of how it happened, what made the marauders such good friends, and how his work provided the potion that gave him control during the full moon. Harry still loved Moony, and was happy to now understand the marauder names. He only wished he had their infamous map.

"Yes, I am a first year. What house do you think you will be in?" It was a logical question for Neville to ask his year-mates.

Before Harry could answer, Hermione interjected from the front. "Gryffindor would be nice, it was the house Albus Dumbledore was in himself, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad."

"Given that the house a student was in is not recorded, just the fact that they attended Hogwarts, how do you know he was in Gryffindor? He could have been in any house, it's just a rumour that he was a Lion. By that logic wouldn't you rather be in Slytherin? Legend says Merlin was in it, which is absurd. Merlin lived in the 5th and 6th centuries whereas Hogwarts was created sometime in the 10th to 12th range, meaning Merlin never attended Hogwarts. You can't trust legend. I am going to, hopefully, be in Ravenclaw." Finished with his explanation (read rant), Harry turned to Neville for his preferred house.

Once again she couldn't help herself and spoke up. " _Hogwarts a History_ says that Merlin attended Hogwarts, so he must have."

That made Harry laugh out loud. "That book is riddled with falsehoods and inaccuracies. It says Hogwarts was founded pre-Norman invasion, and yet the use of stone buildings and castles was not present in the U.K at that time. And if that was the case why Scotland as its location? Where Hogwarts is located was Celtic land at the time, not Saxon, or even Danish. Hogwarts only started keeping records of who attended after the Ministry of Magic mandated it in 1635, so anything more than a lifetime before that is rumour. What house Neville?"

The boy looked nervous at the argument but spoke up, voice shaking. "My Gran says Gry-Gryffindor, but I don't think any would be too bad. I'll probably be in Hufflepuff."

Harry nodded. "Hufflepuff is a good house. They have a proud history, with many important figures."

Hermione didn't speak up until the reached the first carriage where she saw a ginger haired boy with a gleaming badge. "Excuse me, Prefect. Neville here lost his toad, can you please help us find it."

The boy, who they were told was named Percy, did help them with a tracking charm and soon Neville and Trevor were reunited. Harry sat down in his seat and returned to his Potions book, happy to be back on his own. The prefect had been incredibly arrogant and it had got on Harry's nerve.

Finishing the book, the excitement having worn off some, Harry looked out the window but didn't recognise the scenery, so instead he turned his attention to what was coming.

Nobody, except for Remus' friend, knew that Harry was coming. After it was let slip to the press that Dumbledore had lost Harry Potter and couldn't find him, and that he had been keeping it secret for a year, there had been a public outcry.

The demands had been wide ranging, the threats equally so, and despite his early assurances that it was rumour and nothing more the public hadn't calmed down. When he had failed to produce Harry in front of a sealed Wizengamot the lies were shown to be just that.

The rumours about what had happened to Harry were crazy, at least the ones that had been printed in the monthly Harry-Watch section of the Daily Prophet. What wasn't rumour however was the backlash that hit Dumbledore. He was no longer Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot or Supreme Mugwump of the I.C.W.

Unfortunately for Harry the one position he maintained was Headmaster of Hogwarts, but he had used much of his political clout and many of the favours he had amassed over the years to keep even that. Harry had never seen him before, but was waiting to see the reaction when his presence was made known.

He was brought out of his musings when there was a knock at the door, and the girl from earlier opened it. "We will soon be arriving at the Hogsmeade Station according to the driver. They are acting so childish out here, running in the corridors and all sorts."

Harry gasped. "Children acting childish? How outrageous!"

The girl scowled at that. "You don't have to act so rude."

"They are children who are either seeing friends for the first time in months or are on the way to a MAGICAL castle for the first time in their lives, of course they are excited and behaving sillily. It's compounded by the fact that there is no adult supervision, and the prefects are essentially useless." Harry was rummaging through his trunk as he talked.

"The prefects have all sorts of powers, and are a respected authority." She wouldn't let it go.

"Their power is only theoretical, only mentioned so that younger students will follow their instructions. Any punishment they handout has to be ratified by a teacher, and any staff member even the cleaner can overturn them. You saw how stuck up 'Percy' was, and the others will be just as bad. Inflated egos brought about by a modicum of power and prestige and they grow into arrogant asses. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, remember that. Not all officials and people in power can be trusted. Look at Dumbledore himself." By now Harry had arranged his change of clothes on the bench and had put away the textbook.

"What about Dumbledore? He is a great man, any history book about Magicals will tell you all about him." While she was obviously annoyed at what Harry had been saying, she seemed confused at his last statement.

"You weren't told? The books didn't say? Dumbledore lost an 8-year-old child a few years ago. A national hero at that. All because of his arrogance and belief that Albus Dumbledore can't do wrong." It felt funny to Harry talking about this, to somebody who didn't know who he was or the story.

"How do you lose a child? Who did he lose then?" She practically scoffed at that.

"Harry Potter." He waited as she gasped at that. "Yes that Harry Potter. And because he won't tell anybody, even the Wizengamot and the Aurors, about what happened nobody knows how he lost the boy. But he did. He even lied about it when it first came out and said he didn't, but couldn't prove otherwise and had massive public fallout. Why do you think he lost his Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump positions?"

Still looking sceptical about it all she turned to leave. "One last thing Hermione, if you are going to complain about kids acting childish, Gryffindor is not the place for you. Ravenclaw and Slytherin are much more serious houses, but I would guess that you are a first generation Witch and so Slytherin might not be safe for you. I would recommend Ravenclaw but that is just my opinion. See you later Hermione."

It sounded like she mumbled out a thank you as she left, but Harry couldn't quite be sure so ignored it. Closing and locking the door he set about getting changed, excitement once again building.

/

Harry and the rest of the first years were waiting for somebody, given what she had said it would probably be the strict Professor McGonagall, to return and give them instruction about what to do now. As it was they were waiting to go into the Great Hall for the sorting ceremony.

He heard one of the kids talking about how it would be a test that hurt because his older sibling had said so, and all in all Harry saw this as a waste of time. It was a tradition simply to scare the first year students, particularly Newbloods, and held no real purpose.

Harry looked up at the shocked gasps of many of his year mates seeing ghosts for the first time. While usually Remus would have enjoyed the prank of it, he understood that for Harry this day would be more stressful than any other student and needed to know everything. And so Remus had told Harry about all the traditions including the ghosts ambushing the first years.

Harry was happy as the stern Professor returned and led the huddled group of first years into the Feast, paraded in front of all the older students and the staff. They stopped at the front of the hall, lined up like animals for sale, Harry standing on the far left away from the rest of his year.

McGonagall produced a stool and a battered old hat and set them in front of the kids. This led to the hat bursting out in a terrible song that had Harry wincing. It was an impressive piece of magic, but couldn't it at least have a good voice?

After the hat was finished singing Professor McGonagall stepped up to continue proceedings before she was interrupted as a diminutive man walked up to her, tapping her arm before whispering to McGonagall. He was so short that you would have been forgiven for confusing him as a student, if you didn't look at his weathered face.

The man handed the woman a scroll, continuing to whisper to her. She looked confused before pulling out an identical scroll and looked through it. Seeming happy with it she then looked at the other scroll she had just been handed, while the man walked to the staff table and sat down.

It was when she got to the middle of the scroll that everything changed. "Harry Potter?" The shock evident in her voice. "Harry Potter!"

Pandemonium broke out around the room. Teachers and students alike were standing up and yelling. The first years were looking amongst themselves, asking questions, mainly if each of the boys was Harry Potter.

It was into this chaos that Harry chose to wade. Stepping out of the line towards Professor McGonagall. "Yes, Professor?" Of course nobody heard him and he had to repeat himself.

Slowly the room grew quiet as people noticed him, starting with those at the front and closest to him. The fact that nobody was willing to sit down didn't help because those at the back couldn't see him. "I thought that the sorting was alphabetical but I guess you can start with me?"

The room hadn't been fully silent when he said that, but the volume was low enough that the Professor and many of the students and staff could hear him. "You're Harry Potter?" McGonagall proclamation was loud enough that it finally brought silence to the room as everyone present leant forward to hear his response.

"Yes I am. So are you going to sort me, or go about this alphabetically?" He didn't speak overly loudly but plenty heard his response and turned to pass it on to those behind them. This led to a ripple effect as the murmur traveled to the back of the hall.

The Professor pointed at the stool, too stunned to speak, and so Harry walked over to the stool sat down, and placed the hat on his head. Feeling the attempted invasion of his mind Harry chucked up his mental barriers to protect his mind.

Whoever it was brushed past his defences like they weren't even there and was in his mind. ' _Mr. Potter you cannot keep me out, nobody can. I was made for this and no skill in Occlumency can stop me from reading a mind if I want to._ '

This confused Harry greatly. Made for this? And Harry hadn't heard anybody incant the charm, so who was in his mind? ' _Wait you are the hat!'_

' _Yes, I am the Hogwarts sorting hat. Do not worry, the spells that went into making me protect any and all secrets I learn when I am reading minds stay just that. So you do not have to worry about me telling Albus Dumbledore about Remus Lupin's role in rescuing you from those horrible people you were left with.'_

Obviously the hat could read Harry's thoughts as they came to him, because those were the exact fears that Harry had just had. ' _What house will you put me in then? Do I have a say in the matter?'_

' _Give me a moment, there is a lot of factors I have to work through. This is not a rushed decision you must understand. After all, these are the people you will live with for the next 7 years. You would be great in Slytherin. Plenty of ambition and there you would reach those ambitions. Loyalty. Plenty of loyalty, and therefore Hufflepuff is suitable. Plenty of bravery and brashness, the Lions of Gryffindor are the home for that. Last and certainly not least is Ravenclaw where those who believe in the importance of intelligence and learning reside. Perhaps knowledge is what you seek at Hogwarts?'_

Harry took his time to stew over what the hat had said. He was sure that the hat was making whatever calculations it did, but he focused on what he personally felt would be best for him. ' _I don't know what it is that you will decide on hat, but I feel Ravenclaw is the place for me._ '

' _Ravenclaw, you say? Well that would throw a spanner in the works, not as much as Hufflepuff- imagine the reactions if you went there._ ' Harry was sure that he heard the hat laugh. ' _Dumbledore and many others will expect you to go to Gryffindor, but if you're sure?_ '

Harry sent his affirmative to the hat and it responded, but this time to the entire room. "RAVENCLAW!"

 **A/N: Sorry that it has taken so long to get this up, but I hope this will make it up to you and you all enjoy this chapter. I do realise that I have skipped a decent chunk of time, between the last chapter and this one, but large parts will be delved into in the coming chapters. I also wanted Harry to get to Hogwarts as quickly as possible. Yes Mrs. Tonks is Andromeda (Tonks' mother), but at this stage she won't play a role. Tell me if you think she should however. Please review.**

 **Apprentice.**


	5. Chapter 5

September 1st 1991.

The silence of a moment before was replaced by a cacophony of noise. Ravenclaws were cheering like mad. Gryffindors seemed shocked, but angry. Slytherins were booing. And the house of the Badgers had a mixture of reactions.

From the staff Harry could see an equally wide range of emotions. The short man seemed positively giddy with joy, whereas the stern lady seemed disappointed but hid it quickly. Snape was glaring at him, while the turban clad man next to him was regarding Harry with suspicion.

Dumbledore however was the most interesting. He was obviously shocked, both at the placement as well as Harry's presence. He also looked fuming that Harry had gone to Ravenclaw, and Harry didn't know why. His best guess was the old man wanted him in Gryffindor for some reason.

Harry's gaze rested on the Headmaster for too long and he felt the mans mental probe but was able to throw up his barriers and break eye contact. The legilimency tendril quickly disappeared and out of the corner of his eye Harry saw a frown cross Dumbledore's face.

The Headmaster stood up in order to regain control of the situation, and once again establish order to the Hall. To achieve this he let off two loud blasts from his wand. "Order! Now, I don't know who you are young man but this is not a funny joke!"

Harry smiled at the old man, while making sure to not look at him directly. "Oh I'm sorry, I'm Harry James Potter, who are you?"

Harry's grin got wider at the whisper that this created, not to mention the fury that flicker across the Headmasters face. "I'm Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of this school."

"Sorry the name doesn't ring a bell. Is that the Ravenclaw table? I believe that is where I am meant to be seated right now." He was of course indicating the Ravenclaw's table out of the four student tables.

"We have yet to establish who you are, so don't go anywhere young man." By this stage Dumbledore had left where he was standing and was approaching Harry.

"I though we had gone over this, but maybe your hearing is failing in your old age. I am Harry James Potter, only son of James Daesil Potter and Lily Jennifer Potter, born Evans." Harry knew he was pushing his luck, being this cheeky, but he was having too much fun to stop. "Born on the 31st of July 1980, and orphaned on Hallowe'en night 1981 because of some idiot who had been their Headmaster at school. He really shouldn't have gotten involved in their personal lives outside of school, don't you agree?"

Albus' role in the Potter's deaths had been speculated about several times since Harry went missing, some theories even saying he had murdered Harry which was why no one could find him. The boys statement was certainly taping into that sentiment. "I'm sure that it is more complicated than you know. Stop dodging the question, who are you?"

"I'm not dodging the question, you just aren't listening. How about this?" Harry pulled out his wand. "On my magic I swear that I am who I said I am, Harry James Potter. May my magic be stripped away from me if I am lying about who I am."

The audience watched with bated breath as the boy cast the _Lumos_ charm several times to prove he could still do magic. Dumbledore gained a thoughtful look at this display. "If you will come with me to my office we will get to the bottom of this any some other things."

Harry waited until the Headmaster had taken several steps towards leaving the Hall before speaking up. "No."

Dumbledore froze. Had he heard that correctly? Slowly he turned around to face to boy. "Pardon?"

Harry still hadn't moved. "You heard me, no."

With a sneer on his face Severus Snape spoke up for the first time. "Boy, that is the Headmaster. You will do as he says."

Harry laughed at that. "Actually the school rules clearly state that the Headmaster or Headmistress can ask to see a student over excellent or subpar schoolwork, continued struggles in a class, major rule breaking or continued disobedience to the school rule, or for endangering themselves or others. Given that I have yet to have any classes it can't be due to schoolwork. I haven't broken any rules, or endangered anybody, so it can't be for discipline reasons. Therefore I am well within my rights to refuse a private audience with the Headmaster. Now we have wasted enough of everybody's time and I'm started to get hungry, so let's get on with the evening."

Now Harry began to move, not to follow Dumbledore, but over to the Ravenclaw table where he sat down. The room was in shock. Could a student treat a Professor and the Headmaster like that?

What they didn't know was that Harry, Remus and Mrs. Tonks had intensively studied the Hogwarts rule book to make sure Harry would know what he could and couldn't do. They wanted to make sure Harry was never alone with Dumbledore.

Feeling out of his depths for the first time in decades, and not knowing how to proceed, Dumbledore sat back in his chair and indicated for Minerva to continue. He would have to go over the rules again, and if he couldn't find a loophole would apply for some rule changes to the board. He would have to hide what he wanted in a bunch of rules, but he would come up with something.

Harry watched with mild interest as the sorting got underway with an Abbot, Hannah being the next to be sorted. Harry clapped politely for all the students, with more enthusiasm for anybody who went to Ravenclaw. He sat up in his seat however when Granger, Hermione's name was called.

Without a doubt it took the longest of all the students so far for her to be sorted. He assumed that she was conflicted about where to go and was having a good long debate with the hat about all the options. Eventually the hat cried out "Ravenclaw" and she walked over to sit next to Harry. Harry clapped politely at her sorting, as did the rest of the Ravenclaw table.

You could tell that she wanted to ask him questions, because he kept catching her looking at him out of the corner of his eye. He kept his attention firmly on the sorting, to stave off the questions. He clapped happily as Neville was sorted into Gryffindor, but didn't know anybody else so simple took note of names and houses.

Dumbledore was still rattled at the end of the sorting, so simply said "Enjoy the meal" before the food appeared. Subtly Harry checked both his drink and everything around him for contamination before digging in.

Everybody at the Ravenclaw table were watching him between bites, and whispering to each other. Harry tried to ignore it, but it was hard as it was literally everybody, including those sitting around him.

Eventually he turned to Hermione who was seated next to him and raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you, Miss Granger?"

"Why didn't you say who you were on the train?" She had about a thousand questions but thought it was best to start there.

"Because I wanted to wait until the entire school was present before the big reveal. I also wanted to see how people would treat me if they thought I was just some over first year." Forking up a piece of banger, he savoured the taste.

"What about the story about Dumbledore losing you? Did you just make that up for fun?" She was hurt by his lying, and didn't know why he would lie like that.

"Nope, that's all true. He abandoned me with my mothers sister and her family. They didn't like me, hated magic and were abusive. Luckily the man who adopted me found me by chance just before my 8th birthday and took me in. Dumbledore didn't tell anyone , not even the Aurors which are like magical police, and people only found out a whole year later when we leaked it to the press." Harry scooped up some mashed potatoes and devoured it.

"Why would you leak it to the media?" Hermione seemed shocked and sceptical about all this.

"Because we found out he had been stealing from me. 10,000 galleons all up. Which as I'm sure you have worked out is about £50,000. And so we retaliated by releasing the information I had disappeared to the public, doing unrepairable damage to his image. He will get no apologies from me." Harry returned to his dinner. Hermione was thinking through what Harry had been saying so didn't interrupt him again.

/

Harry was seated on his new bed in the first year boys room of the Ravenclaw dorms. He had come straight here after orientation, so as to get away from the rest of the students. Some had asked him all sorts of questions, whereas the most just stared at him like an oddity.

The young prefect, Penelope, who had taken the orientation, seemed very helpful. He was happy that he wasn't in Gryffindor where he was sure he would have been stuck listening to the ginger from the train. At least the Ravenclaw didn't speak down to them.

With his curtains closed, his wand lit up to provide light, he enjoyed the privacy as he went over his Transfiguration book once more. Remus had been correct about how stern Professor McGonagall was and Harry wanted to make sure he prepared for her class. Why did they have to wait till the morning for the timetables? It seemed inefficient to Harry.

If Harry was in charge they would have released the timetables when you got your Hogwarts letter, and then as soon as you were sorted you would know when you had what classes. That way you could prepare the night before for your first classes. Imagine if he didn't have transfiguration for three days after all this study? Talk about unproductive.

"Harry, Professor Flitwick wants to talk to the first years, come down to the common room." That came from one of his new roommates, but with the curtains closed Harry couldn't tell who.

By the time he had taken note of his page, and packed it away, the dorm room was empty so Harry still didn't know who it had been. Leaving the dorm, and taking the stairs down to the common room, he saw the rest of the first years huddled over by the fireplace.

Harry walked over to then and sat in one of the chairs there. He really didn't know why they were all standing around when there were plenty of free seats. The rest seemed to take the hint as they found empty chairs to sit in.

Everyone but Hermione found a seat, which left her standing around awkwardly, looking put out. Harry shuffled over in the armchair, and indicated for her to sit next to him. Luckily the chairs were fairly large so the pair of kids could fit.

"Thank you Harry. You didn't have too, but it was very generous of you." Hermione seemed very grateful to not be left out.

"Don't mention it, it's nothing." Harry's attention was drawn to the diminutive Professor from earlier who was making his way towards the group.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw. My name is Professor Filius Flitwick and I am the Charms teacher here at Hogwarts. I am also your head of house, as I am the Professor in charge of Ravenclaw. What that means is for any questions or struggles you may have feel free to come talk to me." He paused here to smile at each of the children in turn. "Over the coming weeks I will be meeting with each of you individually to discuss a variety of things including how classes are, what subjects do you enjoy the most, passions and interests you have, and what you may like to do once you leave Hogwarts. I, of course hope Charms will be your favourite subject but won't hold it against you if it isn't."

He paused for a moment allowing them to laugh before he continued. "Obviously things can change so nothing you say is locked in, but I like to know a little about all my Ravenclaws. If you want to be a healer now, but change your mind next year that is fine and we will discuss it all more in depth at the end of second year as we plan out your optional classes. Just down the corridor from the entrance to this common room is my quarters, which also has my private office. If you need to see me after dinner I will most likely be there, but will hang up a note if I am elsewhere. During the day however I have an office next door to the Charms classroom that you will be using and can be found there if I am not at a meal or teaching a class. Please visit at anytime. It is a pleasure having you all in Ravenclaw and I look forward to getting to know you over the coming years. Welcome to Ravenclaw."

Figuring that it was a long enough introduction, and that after the long day that it had been they probably couldn't take in anything more, he ended it there. Waving at the group, he departed figuring that Dumbledore would be summoning the senior staff at some point shortly.

With the welcoming finished, Harry returned to the dormitory to prepare for bed, it also achieved the goal of escaping his House-mates without having to answer any questions. He wasn't however planning on going to sleep anytime soon.

Harry pulled out a biro and a notebook, and jotted down his note to Remus including the code words they had agreed on beforehand. He openly talked about the journey and the sorting, scattering the three words they had prepared in advance to calm Remus' fears.

Note in his pocket, Harry departed the bedroom and descended into the common room once more. He was almost at the exit before he was noticed.

"Harry where are you going? Curfew is soon." This came from one of his new classmates, Kevin if Harry remembered correctly.

"I'm just going to check on my owl, it should only take a few minutes." Harry made sure to exit right after that so as to not get dragged into a discussion with anybody. They hallways were empty, with most people catching up with their friends in the common rooms or dormitories.

It took Harry a few minutes to find the owlery, but he felt he did well only going the wrong way twice. It was risky going wandering on his own before he got to know the castle, but he was willing to take his chances. He had been taking note of his route so that he would be able to find his way back.

Harry had never seen as many birds in one place, let alone owls, as he was now witnessing. The rafters were circled by perches as well as many roosts. Near the top, preening her feathers, sat Hedwig. "Hey girl."

She looked up from where she was at the voice, before gliding down to him. She landed on his shoulder and let him scratch her beak, letting out a soft hoot. "Really girl? Are all the males showing you attention?"

She appeared to nod at that statement. "Well are you surprised? You are gorgeous girl." She let out a cry in agreement. "Can you deliver this letter for me?"

She looked at the note before dipping her head and holding out her leg. He tucked it into a pouch sleeve that was on the leg before patting her and letting her soar away. He watched her until she had disappeared from sight before turning and leaving the owlery.

He managed to find the Ravenclaw room without any problems, and was back in his dorm just minutes before curfew. Kevin once again spoke up. "Did you find the owlery okay? How is your owl?"

Harry had to tuck his annoyance back inside. While he didn't like essential strangers interfering with his personal life, he did realise that his dorm-mate was being nice and trying to get to know him. "She is good, but will struggle to adapt. Especially given all the attention the male owls seem to be giving her. You should go to sleep, classes start tomorrow and being well rested will be beneficial." Closing the curtains around his bed he prepared to sleep.

/

Monday 2nd September 1991, 7:53am.

Harry walked into the Great Hall, head tucked down so as to not be noticed. The tables seemed to only be half full, and the students were still catching up so weren't paying attention to the entrance. Some of the professors however had been, and tracked his progress across the Hall to an empty patch of the Ravenclaw table.

Harry had slept badly, unable to get past his fears. He was worried that Dumbledore or Snape would sneak in and read his mind while he slept. He woke many times through the night, but his fears weren't founded.

As breakfast continued the tables filled up, including the seats around Harry, but apart from the looks no one interacted with him until Professor Flitwick came around. "Mr. Potter here is your timetable, please be punctual to all your classes. One of the prefects will lead you to your first class."

Looking down he saw his worst fear. Potions first period. This could be very bad.

 **A/N: Chapter 5! Hope you are all getting excited for what is coming. Please review.**

 **Apprentice.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

 **A/N: A quick explanation on some things, so that you understand my point of view as you read the story. Lily is regarded as a brilliant student, and no one considers James stupid (even if he is childish!), and the sorting hat even states Harry has a not bad mind, and yet everything else portrays him as (realistically) a bad student. I understand the argument that it is to fit in with Ron but it still doesn't add up. In the Diagon Alley chapter of book 1 Harry's fascination of the Magical World is evident, but that literally disappears when he reaches Hogwarts… Why? I know that if I got the chance to learn about magic at Hogwarts I would learn EVERYTHING that I could, wouldn't you? To me it just doesn't make any sense. There is also Harry's general sense of not caring about learning about the Potter family. In fact he spends very little time trying to learn about his parents. That's inconsistent with orphans that I know or have heard talk about searching for information on their family, which is a major problem I have with canon Harry. (Hopefully) That will not be the case in this story. That's enough from me, on with the story!**

Chapter 6: The resistance, day one.

Monday September 2nd 1991, 8:58am.

Harry was seated next to Kevin waiting for their Professor to enter. Half the class were talking to each other, but Harry was seated quietly with parchment, quills and textbook in front of him.

The door banged open and in walked Snape, obviously in a foul mood, and he stormed his way to the front of class. With a snarl on his face he took the class roll.

"Harry Potter…" He looked like he was going to say more but didn't, and after Harry's response in the affirmative moved on down the list.

After the rest of the class's attendance was recorded the Potions Master stood for a minute looking out at the class. The students were starting to get unsettled at the man's behaviour and were shuffling in their seats when he spoke up again. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making."

The class was now still and silent. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

The class was absolutely quiet for a moment before one of the students started clapping. It wasn't a respectful clap, but rather a slow sarcastic one. It was coming from Harry of course.

Snape's gaze snapped to Harry and he let out a snarl. Harry struggled not to laugh as he spoke. "What a speech Professor. You really have a touch of the dramatic and a skill for poetry. Be honest how long did it take you to write and memorise that?"

"Potter… I see you have no respect, just like your father! Just because you are a celebrity doesn't mean you can behave how you want in my class. 20 points from Ravenclaw!" Snape smiled at that.

"On what grounds? I was just congratulating you on a great start to class!" Harry knew Snape knew that he was being sarcastic, but it wasn't something that could be proven.

"Another 10 points for talking back. Let's see if your fame is good for anything but boosting your own ego." The Professor took a moment to think of a question before a smile crossed his face once again. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry sat for a moment thinking through the textbook but couldn't remember anything about the combination. "I don't know, where in the textbook was that because I must have missed it?"

Snape sneered at that. "Tut-tut… Clearly fame isn't everything. Let's try again: where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

He knew that one, but not from the textbook. Callum had used one to heal Remus from some poison he ingested once. "In nature? It's a stone you can find in the stomach of a goat. But the easiest place to find one now would either be in your storeroom or the Hospital wing of the castle, given the healing properties of bezoars."

That he had answered that one correctly seemed to really annoy Snape, as Harry felt him try leglimency. Harry was able to keep him out but it drained him. It was only five seconds, but Harry felt like he had been under assault for hours. He was happy that the teacher gave up when he did because he wasn't sure how much longer he would have lasted.

"What is the difference, Potter, between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?" He had him there, Snape was sure. It was a O.W.L.s level question.

"Ah, aconite. Interesting thing about that sir is that they are the same plant, therefore there is no difference. Aconite is its third name." The only reason that Harry knew this is because of the poisoning incident that led to the bezoar

Wolfsbane was named as such because it was highly poisonous to werewolves, even in their human form, and Harry had accidentally fed some to Remus. Harry had cooked dinner one night and garnished the dish with some flowers to make it look pretty, as he had seen it done on tv, and one flower he used was aconite. Harry had thought the purple colour was nice, and Remus hadn't noticed it amongst the harmless flowers, until after he had eaten one. He had almost died.

Severus Snape snarled when Harry got it right, he couldn't help himself. "10 points from Ravenclaw for reading ahead and not sticking to the class textbook."

Harry had given the Professor a chance but it was now obvious that Snape was not going to attempt to teach the class. He had tried to embarrass Harry by asking advanced questions, and then punished him for knowing the answers. On top of that Harry had asked him a legitimate question, where in the textbook one of Snape's questions was from, but it had gone unanswered.

If Snape was not going to be a teacher, Harry was not going to be his student. It was for this reason that Harry set about packing up his gear, putting his ink, quills, parchment and textbook into his rucksack. He wasn't going to stick around for this.

Snape had not seen Harry packing his equipment away, but did notice when the first year stood up and started walking to the door. "Potter! Where do you think you are going? Class isn't finished; you can't just walk out whenever you want because of your fame. Now sit back down!"

Harry had turned around at the start of the rant but didn't make any moves towards his seat. In fact when the teacher was finished he did the opposite and started walking towards the door again.

That really set Snape off. "100 points from Ravenclaw and a month of detentions with me. Now sit back in your seat!"

Harry didn't even stop that time, instead he walked out the door and closed it behind him. Knowing that it was probably going to be in a lot of trouble he went searching for Professor Flitwick's office. It took him a lot of trial and error, and a lot of time, but he eventually found it just before the first class of the day finished.

He knocked on the door and waited. Harry had a spare second period so didn't have to worry about missing another class. Having nothing better to do he sat down on the doorstep and pulled out his potions textbook. After all for his plan to work he had to make sure none of the questions were addressed in the book.

Ten minutes later found Harry still seated there, still searching through the book, when Filius Flitwick opened the door from the inside. "Mr. Potter, what are you doing down there?"

"Professor were you in there the whole time? I knocked but you must not have heard me." Harry rushed to his feet and tucked his book away.

Filius stepped out of the way and let his pupil through the door. "Actually I was in a class and only just got to my office and unlocked the door. The office has an adjoining door to my classroom. What can I help you with? After all you must have run here straight from the dungeons."

Harry looked guilty for a moment as he thought about the trouble he was about to cause for the friendly Professor, before he realised it was too late to turn back now. "About that… I kind of stormed out of Potions class right at the start. Snape proved that he was not going to teach me properly so I left."

The Charms master collapsed into his chair, eyes wide and jaw unhinged. "You just left his class?" No student had ever done that.

"He was docking points from me for no reason, challenged me by asking me advanced questions, and then docked more points when I got two of the questions right. If he is going to consider that teaching there is no point in me being there, so I will higher a tutor for potions." It was one of the options they had planned for before Harry started Hogwarts. There was historical precedent for it, even if it hadn't happened this century, and it wasn't against school rules.

"You will be called to the Headmaster's office soon, so perhaps we should go over all that occurred this morning in class." The Professor leant back in his seat, knowing that this was going to be a long and draining talk.

/

Harry walked into the Headmaster's office behind Flitwick to find Snape sitting there glaring at him, while Dumbledore sat behind his desk looking thoughtful. "It is about time you got here, I have had students looking for you for almost an hour now. Where were you hiding?"

Harry ignored the Headmaster and instead walked over to the rows of portraits depicting former Heads of the school. Finding the one he was looking for he bowed at it. "Daesil Potter it is my privilege to make your acquaintance. My father, James Daesil Potter, was named in yours and your brothers honour. Your legacy to our family has not been forgotten."

The portrait observed the boy for a moment before returning the bow. "You will be a fine addition to the Potter family, young man. I look forward to conferring with you more in the future and watching what you do with your life."

"Well, now that is over we can continue." This came from Dumbledore who wanted control of the proceedings. "You can leave us Filius, I'm sure you have a lot of work to get back to."

Instead the Charms Professor took a seat and indicated for Harry to sit next to him. "Me and Harry have already gone over what happened and he has asked for me to stay here for support. As his Head of House, he is more than welcome to ask me to be here, and without a class I have the time. Severus I thought you had classes all morning, shouldn't you be with your students?"

"Yes I do, so that is another week of detentions for you boy. Not just disrupting a class but causing the cancellation of another class, disgraceful." Snape was in full sneer mood.

"That is hardly fair, Severus. It is your choice to be here now instead of teaching a class. Which is what you are paid for I need not remind you. This could have been handled tonight when classes were finished for the day, it's not like it would make a difference whether it happens now or in 10 hours." Filius was sticking up for his student.

"How about you run us through what happened Severus." Dumbledore was trying to appear diplomatic.

"I had just finished the roll when the brat interrupted class and insulted me. I took a few points off as an incentive to behave, but he didn't learn and kept antagonising class. Eventually he just stood up and left class, before the lesson even began. He's obviously an arrogant, unteachable brat just like his father." Snape was smiling at that, believing he had painted Harry in a bad light while showing himself in a positive light.

"That's not true! And if I'm unteachable it's only because you are a talentless, personality-less useless excuse for a teacher." That outburst was of course by Harry. He regretted it straight away as it didn't help things, but it certainly felt good.

Filius was the one who rebuked Harry, knowing the boy would take it better from him. "Harry! There is no need for that, and it doesn't help your case. Instead tell us, from your perspective, what happened this morning."

Harry was good enough to look ashamed at the outburst. "Well after the roll was taken the _professor_ over there went into this impressive speech about brewing fame and the such, so when it finished I clapped. In the muggle world, where I grew up, that is the polite thing to do. I also mentioned that it was very good and he had a knack for poetry and what did he do? He insulted both me and my father and proceeded to take 20 points from Ravenclaw. When I asked on what grounds he took off another 10 points for talking back. He then went about trying to humiliate me by asking several advanced questions, and when I got two of the three right he took away 10 points for reading ahead. He tried to humiliate me by asking advanced questions and then punished me for not being made to look the fool. On top of that when I asked him where in the textbook the other question was from he completely ignored the question. Those factors all added up to prove that he was either an incompetent teacher or was purposefully seeking to diminish my potions eduation, or maybe both, so I left the class. He insulted me again, giving me a month of detentions and took away another 100 points for my trouble, as I left and so I will not be going back to his class. Ever!"

"140 points from Ravenclaw? That's outrageous!" While Harry had already told him the sum, Filius figured he had to react for the sake of the other two. It was a ridiculous sum after all.

"Filius, not now. I'm sorry Mr… I still don't know who you are." Dumbledore still was refusing to accept that this boy was Harry Potter.

"You really are going senile aren't you old man, we have been over this several times already. I am Harry James Potter. Just ask Daesil over there, he can tell that I am a Potter, in fact everyone but you have accepted that already, so why won't you?" It was really starting to get ridiculous in Harry's opinion.

"You have yet to prove that you are Harry Potter to a satisfactory level, so that is why I do not believe you." After all Harry had disappeared three years ago and Dumbledore had yet to discover what happened to him.

"I swore a magical oath last night to prove it…" How dense was the old man?

"You might believe you are him, but not be him, which would have got you around it." After all that had to be the case.

"That is not true and if you were as smart as everyone thinks you are, you would know that too. My wording did not leave wiggle room. I didn't say I THINK I'm Harry Potter in it, I said I WAS Harry Potter. You can't trick oaths of that type, that's why they are recommended to be used only in the most serious of situations and aren't taken lightly. Saying I was Harry James Potter during a magical oath and not being him would strip my magic away from me, whether or not I believed it to be true. _Wingardium Leviosa_." At the incantation a quill on Dumbledore's desk floated into the air.

"Excellent Mr. Potter! Perfectly cast, 5 points to Ravenclaw. You know he is right Albus, it can't be tricked. Certainly not that easily. Now on to the reason for our presence here, I want those detentions removed and the points reinstated." The display of magic wasn't planned and Flitwick was genuinely delighted at the skill shown.

"One detention this Saturday, three hours, with Professor Snape. The points however have been taken, even if I agree they are excessive, and I can't reinstate them. However Potions is a core class here at Hogwarts so until you have your Potions O.W.L you will have to attend Professor Snape's classes." That was rather simple to resolve after all, now he would have time to ponder the problems this boy, and his insistence about being Harry Potter, would create.

"If you insist that he is going to have to serve a detention it will be with me, not Severus. Severus has shown vitriol to Harry already and he hasn't even been here at Hogwarts for 24 hours, so no Harry won't be spending 3 hours unsupervised with him!" Flitwick was standing now, to enforce his support for the boy. Even if it meant he was now shorter than when he was seated.

"Severus is a professional, Filius. He can be trusted to oversee a detention." Dumbledore, in full grandfather mode now, insisted.

"There is one thing I failed to mention earlier that will influence this." All three adults turned their attention to Harry at that. "After I answered one of the questions correctly the _professor_ tried to read my mind with legilimency."

"Severus! How could you? That's illegal!" Flitwick was now outraged, and it was clear to all those present. "Mr. Potter you never need to be in a room alone with this man, I promise you that. Your detention will be with me."

"Filius I'm sure Severus meant nothing by it. Isn't that so Severus?" Dumbledore looked at Snape clearly trying to pass a message along.

"Of course not, Headmaster. I was just trying to protect the school, and was worried about the danger he might pose having studied ahead." The slimy snake smirked at that.

"I don't care your excuse, it's still illegal for a reason. If I ever find out you try that on a student again Severus I will be going straight to the D.M.L.E to report it. I know you consider yourself skilled in a duel, but the pair of you together would struggle to stop me and you know it. Harry will serve his detention with me." The diminutive man certainly looked fearsome in his rage, and Harry believed the man. It helped that Remus had told him that Filius was a three-time European Duelling champ and a one time World Champion.

"Anyways we lost our way, Dumbledore I will not be attending Snape's classes. The school rules allow the hiring of tutors to teach subjects in the place of the Professor, and there is precedent for it. I will find a Potions Master and hire them to tutor me for as long as that _man_ is the Professor here, and will offer the persons services to the rest of the school for a small fee. I bet that more students will go to the tutor than go to Snape's classes." With his part said Harry stood up and went to leave the room only to be stopped by a teacher once again.

This time however it was a much nicer person who stopped him. "Harry, what is 1 + 1?"

That surprised Harry. "Ah, 2 Professor Flitwick?"

"Correct. 150 points to Ravenclaw." The Charms Professor smiled at the boy.

"He can't do that Albus!" Snape was enraged at that. How dare Filius do that? It was something that Snape himself would do after all.

"Why not Severus? Why can't I do that? After all it's no different than what you did when you took away the points earlier today, so why can't I do the opposite?" Flitwick had a grin on his face.

"Filius that was a petty thing to do, don't do it again in the future. This time however I will allow it." Dumbledore looked like he was sick of all three of them and just wanted to get on with his day.

"I won't do it in the future if you hold Severus to the same standard. I am fed up with you letting him get away with whatever he wants when it comes to the points system. Either remove the points system completely, or judge it fairly. If you continue to fail to treat the four houses evenly I, and the other heads of house, will retaliate. Let's go to lunch Mr. Potter."

/

September 2nd 1991, 5:50pm.

Dinner was going to start shortly, and Harry was looking forward to it. On top of the debacle that was Potions he had had his first History of Magic class. A ghost teaching?

It was a fascinating idea, and one that had thoroughly caught Harry's imagination when he was first told about it. He was now well and truly disappointed. That had to be the most boring hour of Harry's life.

Luckily the rest of the day had allowed him to get plenty of study in. Harry loved the library, even if a lot of the books were in the restricted section. The amount of knowledge in that room captivated Harry.

He was also proved right when he discovered that the Draught of Living Death, what powdered asphodel and an infusion of wormwood created, was a second year potion. Snape's opening question was from a year above, let alone the follow up questions, so Harry let himself off the hook for not knowing the first answer.

Harry was drawn out of his contemplation when the girl from the day before, Hermione, sat beside him. Harry nodded politely at her. "Good evening Miss Granger. How was your first day of Hogwarts?"

"The castle is amazing! You can feel the magic emanating from the very stone that makes up the building, let alone from the rest of the grounds. I have never seen anything like it. And the library! Have you seen it yet? It's amazing! It was very interesting to have a ghost as a teacher, even if he lacks a bit of charisma. Who would have thought of having a ghost teach history? Have you seen the grounds? They are massive, housing a loch! I hear there is a giant squid but I didn't see it when I was out there." Harry watched with his eyes wide open as she prattled on barely halting long enough to breathe.

"Breathe, Hermione, breathe. If you slow down and allow me to answer you we can have a nice conversation. I understand that you are excited but I would like to participate in this conversation. I take it you had a good day?" Harry, having recovered from his shock, was now struggling to hold in the laugh that was threatening to burst out.

The girl blushed heavily at that. "Sorry. Yes I did." She was much more quiet that time, barely whispering it.

"Hey it's nothing to be sorry about, in fact I'm sorry if I came across harshly. I would like to hear about your day, which is why I asked you, I just would also like to contribute. It's good that you enjoyed your day. When did you visit the library? I didn't see you in there." Harry was surprised at how quickly she had folded into her shell at his earlier statement.

"I went in the free period we had after Potions. Is that where you went after you left?" The rest of what she wanted to ask about that went unsaid.

"Na I went to Professor Flitwick's office and waited for him to finish class. We went to Dumbledore's office and got the points overturned." He pointed to the hourglasses that houses the points tally that now showed that Ravenclaw had a comfortable, if still narrow, lead. "And instead of a month of detentions with Snape, I have 1 detention with Flitwick. I went to the library this afternoon after lunch, with a trip to the owlery on the way."

"Why'd you visit the owlery? I thought you went last night?" That didn't make sense to Hermione.

"I have an owl and want to make sure she is settling in fine, however this afternoon I also had a letter to send out." Harry reached for the platter of Cumberland sausages that had just appeared, along with the rest of the meal.

"What letter? To your mysterious guardian?" Hermione was looking through all the options before settling on roast beef.

"You will have to wait and see, hopefully I will get a response any minute now. How did you find Binns? Personally I was disappointed, he obviously has a lot of knowledge but just has no personality. In his defence it can't be easy being a ghost, especially when you are expected to continue working." Harry savoured a bite of sausage before piling up some roast vegetables on his plate.

"He did drone on a little, but it is fascinating stuff. How do you think the giant squid ended up in the lake? It's not a magical creature, not its natural environment and unlikely to accidentally find its way into the loch." she took the tray of roast vegetables off Harry before adding them to the beef on her plate.

"A student, how else? A cheeky student snuck it in and it either escaped, which octopuses and squid are know to do, or was purposely released into the lake. An interesting prank perhaps that has stuck around over the years." He was distracted by a flutter of wings and looked up to see Hedwig.

She slowly circled the room, and Harry got the distinct impression that she was showing off to have the students marvel at her. It seemed to be working because most were looking at her. Deciding that she had milked their admiration long enough she floated down and landed on the table next to Harry.

"Hey girl, that was a quick trip. You didn't run into any problems?" At that Hedwig looked disapprovingly at Harry. To appease her the boy gave her a piece of sausage that she happily consumed.

With the treat consumed she held out her leg so that Harry could remove the letter there. A soft hoot led to her and Harry looking intently at each other. It was obvious to everyone watching that they were having a battle of wills. "Okay, girl. You deserve it. Thank you for carrying this for me."

What she deserved was soon explained as Harry held out a whole sausage which she grasped in her talons before flying off. Harry looked at Hermione and shrugged. "She has me wrapped around her finger, er talon, and knows it."

Turning his attention to the letter he quickly opened it and a smile crossed his face as he read what it contained. He looked at Flitwick and nodded before folding it up and returning his attention to his meal. Thinking the plate looked a little light he grabbed a replacement sausage.

"Are you going to tell me what was in your letter now?" That came from Hermione who was still curious. In fact, if anything, his mysteriousness made her more curious.

"After dinner." Taking a bite of potato before continuing, the boy changed topics. "We have double Charms tomorrow morning, what are you expecting from it? Did you know that he used to be a champion dueller?"

That seemed to distract her as they launched into discussing the pros and cons of the different subjects, and what they imagined the teachers would be like. They both were so invested in the conversation that before they realised it the meal was finished and Dumbledore had stood up and had approached the podium.

"Amongst all the excitement last night we never got around to the start of year announcements. First years: the forest in the grounds is off limits, but not just for you. As always it is forbidden to all students. Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to remind you that no magic is to be used in the corridors between classes." He paused for a moment to look down at a piece of parchment in front of him.

He seemed to have found his place as he smiled and looked back out at the student body. "Quidditch trials are coming up and will be held next week. Those interested should contact Madam Hooch, the schools flying instructor and Quidditch referee, or their team's captain. And lastly, and most seriously, the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is off limits to all students. This is for your own safety as I want to protect you all from a very painful death. Thank you all for your attention, good night one and all."

Filius Flitwick interrupted him by declaring, in a voice that had to be magically boosted, the following. "There is one more notice. Mr. Potter, if you wouldn't mind?"

The entire Hall turned to face him. He stood up and walked to the front of the room, nerves growing with every step. He had never spoken publicly before, let alone in front of so many people. When he arrived at the front Flitwick whispered encouragement in his ear before casting a charm on him.

"Um, hello?" That got almost everybody laughing. "It came to my attention this morning that many of you have had to suffer through an incompetent schooling on the subject of Potions."

That led to him receiving jeers from the Slytherin benches. The other students seemed to lean forward however and that gave him some confidence. "To rectify this I have set about hiring a Potions tutor for myself. Not wanting to leave you to suffer through your current class I have asked her, and she has agreed, to open it up to any student. It will cost 10 galleons each, around 50 pounds, for the entire year and the classes will be at the same time your current potions class would be."

Half the Hall erupted in cheers, while most of the rest seemed to be discussing whether or not they could afford it. "She will be arriving on Wednesday, with her first class being the first lecture from that day. You do not need to pay this week, or next, as you assess whether or not you want to continue with Snape, but after that you need to pay the 10 galleons to continue. That also allows you a chance to contact your parents and ask for the money. I do understand that there are some families that might not have that spare, especially if you have many siblings here at Hogwarts, and if that is the case we will sort out some other form of payment. Thank you."

He started walking away before Flitwick said something that caused him to turn back to the Professor. The Professor said a few more things leaving the students to wonder what was being discussed. Eventually Harry turned back and everyone in the front of the Hall could see he was blushing from embarrassment.

"Sorry all, turns out I forgot to mention some important details. The Potions Master is one Marigold Smitlister from the United States of America. She studied her Mastery under the famous Yerl Kamsil, so is very qualified for the position. As I understand it she is seen as a bright young star in the field so we are very lucky that she is willing to come help us out. Night." That time he looked at Flitwick who nodded before cancelling the charm that enhanced Harry's voice.

When the students left the Hall that evening they had a lot to discuss. They could study potions without having to put up with Snape? Half of the school body was ready to sign up then and there, many willing to spend a lot more than 10 galleons to get that as well. They were ecstatic.

 **A/N: Here it is, hope you all enjoy this chapter. I personally do not like Snape, and do not think J.K's explanations are enough to forgive him. Many people disagree with me, which is fine and I'm avoid a lot of complaints about his portrayal and treatment here, and in the future. If you hold a different view of Snape that's great, it's what makes FF so great, but it won't change any of my planned story in regards to Snape. Anyways, please review!**

 **Apprentice.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

School Life.

Wednesday 4th September 1991, 8:58am.

Harry was tired, and he blamed the stupidity of Hogwarts. Astronomy, while a interesting subject, was overall fairly pointless. It was only made worse when you forced students to have a class on it at midnight.

Harry had nothing against the subject, but surely there was a better way to teach it? Some form of projection in a blackened room creating a interactive night-sky during the day. Or leave it theoretical until the kids were older. 11-year-olds shouldn't be up that late.

At least they were given the following morning off classes to recover, or at least would have if Harry wasn't sitting in the old spare Charms class waiting for Potions Master Marigold Smitlister to start her first lesson. He wanted to see her in action.

It was a third year class, Gryffindor and Slytherin, but only 12 students were present, including Harry. It appeared that the entire Gryffindor student body from 3rd year had decided to give her a try, while unsurprisingly none of the Slytherin students had followed suit. As long as half of the students from every year decided to take the option of Marigold's tutoring it would be viable.

If they could get 100 students to pay 10 galleons each, a handful of poorer students paying other ways, that would bring in 1000 galleons for Marigold. Harry was paying 250, which would make the total 1250. Less than the lower end of the average salary but she could easily make up the shortfall by making and selling potions in her spare time.

Harry's attention was shifted to a laughing clump of students, who all were focused on a pair of boys. The boys had ginger hair, and were obviously twins. Harry would have struggled to tell them apart he decided, and it was only made worse by the pair finishing each other's sentences.

Harry was getting a headache just trying to follow them, but the group seemed used to it as they were laughing along with the jokes. They really were quite funny Harry thought, as he got the hang of two people speaking one sentence. _Do they plan everything they are going to say in advance? Or are they telepathically linking? Maybe it's as simple as them being clever and quick on their feet._

"Welcome third year students, I am Marigold Smitlister but you can call my Miss Smitlister. I thought that we would begin by reviewing what you learnt it your first two years here at Hogwarts. What is the correct way to clean your equipment before beginning a potion?"

This continued on for quite awhile, as the first half of the class was taken up with establishing questions. With every answer given the tutor jotted down some notes on a piece of parchment before moving on to the next question.

Harry wrote down all the questions and the answers given, and was happy to find that he had the same answer to most of the 1st year questions, and took the chance to get a leg up for next year. When she was finished Marigold took a moment to review the results and write a few final notes before turning to the class once more.

"It is evident that your basic knowledge of the making of beginner potions is satisfactory, however many concerns have been raised by the rest of the questions. You seem to lack an understanding behind why you do much of what happens during potions making. You have next to no knowledge around Potions safety. And as far as I can tell you don't know how ingredients interact together." She paused for a moment to look over the notes she had taken. "I am surprised that no students have been killed or maimed over the years here at Hogwarts and will be sharing my concerns with the Deputy Headmistress."

She dedicated the rest of the lecture to potion prep safety. The necessity of cleaning all tools and surfaces before starting any potions. How to make sure no contaminates were stuck in the cauldron. Why it was important to clean each item before moving on to the next ingredient.

By the sounds of it none of this had been taught to the students before, and Harry was appalled to know that without Marigold's acceptance to do tutoring he probably would never have learnt any of these safety precautions. Now more than ever he was certain that he had made the right choice. Hogwarts needed a Potions tutor.

When class was finished, and the rest of the students had left, Harry approached her. "Your cousin Divet spoke highly of you, and I can see why. Thank you for agreeing to do this Miss Smitlister."

"I am happy I decided to take this risk, so thank you for the invite Mr. Potter. I can't believe that they were third year students but didn't know to clean your knife between ingredients… I was taught that my first ever Potions class!" She seemed distraught at the lack of education, but excited for the good she could do.

"Anyways I am now confident in my choice to hire you, from just this one lesson it is evident that it was the right move. Here is your down payment, hopefully you can find a place to stay in Hogsmeade." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pouch with exactly 250 galleons in it. "The other students have until the end of next week to decide, and after that the rest of the money will be here, I hope it is enough."

"Thank you." She took the pouch and tucked it away in her robes. "I already have a small cottage I'm renting in Hogsmeade, but I am burning through my savings so this is greatly appreciated. I will see you after lunch for your Potions class, goodbye Mr. Potter.

/

Wednesday 4th September 1991, 10:20pm.

The castle was essentially pitch black, with wall sconces only lit in the major passageways and the main staircase. In the numerous side hallways that crisscrossed the school there wasn't that same luxury. There wasn't a slither of light in the passage that Harry was exploring.

Having seen some prefects and staff patrolling during his travels he knew that they all used lanterns to see. They should have known that the light alerted any students that were out after curfew long before they themselves arrived. It had allowed Harry to avoid getting caught twice already.

If he was being honest, Harry did have to admit to having an advantage most staff and students wouldn't have. He could see in the dark. Well not really, but his glasses had an inbuilt charm that worked like muggle night-vision goggles.

It had taken a lot of pleading by Harry to persuade Remus to get the runes carved into the frame, but it was worth it. While the MI-M could have access to British army NVG's, they chose not to because the MI-M lab techs had made their enchanted NVG's more efficient than any muggle ones.

Harry had pulled out a trump card to get Remus to fold. If he was caught out of the dorms after curfew it might be by either Dumbledore or Snape, and even if it was someone else he might be taken to the Headmaster's office, which neither of them wanted. A quick talk with his boss and the next day Remus had gotten Harry his own night-vision glasses.

Hearing a meow Harry turned around to see a cat sitting there looking at him. Relief flooded him when he realised it wasn't Mrs. Norris. "Hey girl, what are you doing out?"

He bent over and scratched under the cats chin. It didn't respond to his question but stretched its neck out to allow him more access. "I would go down to the dungeons if I was you. There are bound to be some rats down there for you to feast on. It's not like you can get back into a dormitory until morning so go on, find something to eat."

The cat watched him for a moment more before letting out a soft meow and sauntering off in the manner that only cats can. Shaking his head at the random interaction he returned to his exploring. It really was a fascinating castle, full of hidden nooks and crannies with a wide array of mysteries connected with them all. By the time he graduated he was going to know them all.

Arriving at a small staircase, one of the many dotted around the castle, Harry had to decide what to do now. He was on the fifth level so could go either up or down, or he could return to the Ravenclaw rooms. He had started at level 7 and had been heading down, so he decided to continue that way.

The fourth floor wasn't overly exciting, mainly empty classrooms, but he was sure that there would be some secrets. Hearing the stories Remus had about the Marauders at school, Harry knew that the castle was filled with secrets and many of them were where you least expected them.

While Remus had told him a lot of the stories, he had left out the details like what floor and corridor it occurred it, or what statue or painting to look behind. He hadn't left that out so that Harry wouldn't know, but rather that Harry could have the enjoyment of discovering locations on his own. It really was a rush finding a secret location or hidden tunnel.

Not all the stories were positive from the Marauders and Remus hadn't shied away from the negative because he believed Harry deserved to know the truth about his father. James Potter was a good man, near the end of his life you could even say a great man, but he hadn't always acted so admirably.

Most of the pranks they pulled were harmless, and the ones that weren't they believed were deserved. Often the victims of their pranks ended up laughing, even if it took a day or two for them to get over the embarrassment, and they were willing to join in the appreciation of a well-pulled prank. That is everyone but the Slytherins.

The Slytherins had been long time rivals of Gryffindor and would never admit to enjoying a prank if it had involved a Gryffindor getting one over on a Slytherin. That didn't stop the other three houses from enjoying any pranks pulled on Slytherin and the Marauders were all too happy to oblige the masses. The Slytherin students weren't their only targets, in fact if you add up the other three houses combined the Marauders pranked more non-Slytherin students that Snakes, but of the houses Slytherin was targeted most.

Pretty quickly in first year Snape became the preferred target, and was the single most pranked individual in school by a long shot. It may sound bad but you need to know the story behind why before you can judge, and so Remus made sure to tell Harry it.

Snape had been friends with Lily, Harry's mother, before school and they were close friends from their first train ride. Because of this they spent a lot of time in the library together, and every couple of days found Snape in the Gryffindor common room with her. It all kicked off because of one of those times.

After the first fortnight of classes they had a Potions test in class and Snape had gotten top marks. He was bragging to Lily about it, and at one point claimed that apart from Lily the Gryffindors were useless and she would have been better off in any other house. He did have a point because apart from Lily, who got the 3rd best potion, no Gryffindor student was in the top 10.

What he didn't realise was that James Potter and Sirius Black had overheard him and took exception to the claim. The Black Family had been experts in potion making for centuries and apart from the Marauders no one at school knew that Sirius could already make any third year potion in the curriculum because of the training he had received from his mother. It only confirmed what Sirius' older cousin Andi had heard earlier in the Slytherin dorms.

Snape had been boasting and had called out Sirius personally, saying that obviously the Black's weren't that good or Sirius was a Family disgrace. Sirius had finished 16th of the 46 kids in their year. Snape didn't even care that two of the older kids in the Slytherin common room at the time were Blacks.

James and Sirius decided he needed to be taken down a peg, and decided they were the ones to do it. Between Sirius' potion making ability and James devious mind and talent for seeing a connection between two unrelated items they had a potion made and slipped into Snape's goblet at breakfast the next morning. Cousin Andi had been all too happy to pour it into the goblet when he wasn't watching to teach the first year a lesson.

Snape had lime green skin for 12 hours, and nothing any of the teachers did could change him back. They worked out that it was the result of a potion rather than charm, but even the Potions Master Slughorn couldn't figure out how to reverse it. That would have been the end of it, but Snape didn't let it die.

James bragged to Lily that he had been responsible, even in first year he was trying to catch her eye. Of course Lily told her friend and Snape wanted to get revenge and tried to hex James in the back. He quickly learnt that Sirius wasn't the only one who got training before Hogwarts as James beat him easily despite the ambush.

"Maybe that was what led him to start delving into the Dark Arts, trying to find an advantage against your dad, but we will never know." Had been Remus' comments on it, and he explained that the pranks had intensified in their third year when they found out from year 7 Andi that Snape had turned to the Dark Arts.

Arguably the worst incident had been during their O.W.L.s testing at the end of their fifth year. The Marauders had been talking about how stupid one of the questions was as they exited the Great Hall, saying it was unanswerable. Snape had bragged about how easy it was as he walked past. It turned out later that the exam writer had made a mistake and the question was voided.

That would have been that, except the next day, after the Charms test, Snape had taken a dig at them, saying that even they could have passed it as it was a simple exam. Flitwick's presence had stopped them retaliating but it all set off later. Sirius had complained about being bored and James set about providing entertainment.

Simply put James humiliated Severus Snape. Harry's father levitated him upside down, showing the many witnesses the boy's undergarments, and everybody was laughing at the Slytherin. It wasn't a prank, it was straight up bullying.

It was made worse when Lily Evans interrupted it, ordering James to let the victim down. Instead of being grateful it had added to his humiliation, having a woman step in and defend him because he couldn't defend himself. He had lashed out at everyone, including Lily, and that spelled the end of their friendship.

James did regret that incident, it may have gotten laughs but it was a cheap laugh. It wasn't a well planned out and executed prank, rather a simple assault on an unsuspecting individual. If Snape hadn't been a Dark Wizard James would have even apologised to him.

It embarrassed Harry to hear such things about his Father, but he did appreciate Remus taking the time to tell him the truth. It would have been easy to just tell him the good and ignore the bad. Imagine the damage if Harry had found out about that story from someone else, or even Snape god forbid, if he had only been told the good.

It was these stories that had Harry stopping at every statue, pushing every bump, trying to turn and twist the stone every which-way hoping for something to happen. He had yet to discover anything.

The task allowed Harry's mind to wander, as he thought back to what his first half-week had been like. Lots of Ravenclaw students had asked him about his life before Hogwarts, where he had been, if it was true that Dumbledore had lost him and most frequently what had happened that Hallowe'en night.

He had either avoided answering, told them it was a rude thing to ask, or given vague answers depending on the question asked and already most had given up asking. In each class he had sat next to a different Ravenclaw year-mate and had been polite to them all.

The idea was that by the end of the week he would have spent at least a lesson with each person and was making progress in getting to know them all. He figured it was best to keep this up all year, that way he would get to know all the kids and not just a couple.

As they talked about the lesson he had asked a wide range of questions, which they had answered with varying degrees of openness. He learnt about their families, their passions before Hogwarts, what subjects they were looking forward to, and a hundred different smaller things. Some liked to talk, others didn't, but either way Harry stayed polite and friendly.

He understood that it was hypocritical of him to ask about their lives outside of Hogwarts while being unwilling to share his own, but it was for the best. If he didn't say anything, he couldn't let something slip that would endanger himself or Remus. To make up for it he willingly told them other personal things, like his favourite foods, favourite book, subjects he wanted to do his N.E.W.T.s in.

Students from outside of Ravenclaw had yet to approach him, but he knew it was only a matter of time. He was still the centre of attention in between classes or in the Great Hall so he knew they were all curious. When they did start to approach him it would bring a whole new range of problems.

He didn't want to be rude or seen as an arrogant ass by ignoring them completely, but he knew that every slither of attention he gave them would leave them craving more. It would also be harder to make accurate assumptions about them, because they would try to put their best foot forward while approaching him, and he wouldn't be able to see what they really were like. At lest with Ravenclaw students he could observe them in the Common Room and see what they were like when they weren't putting on a show for him.

It also didn't help that the Daily Prophet had been running articles about him every day that week, after someone had let slip his presence to them on Sunday night after the Sorting. With no evidence they had been speculating wildly, sometimes with quotes from students about what he was like, other times just whatever crazy thing had popped into the reporters head. The annoying thing is he hadn't talked to any of the students named. He had also received a dozen different letters from reporters asking for exclusive interviews.

Hearing a squeak Harry was drawn out of his musings. He spun around, instantly on high alert but couldn't see anything. There was no light, but he probably had lingered long enough. It was time to move on.

Continuing on in the same direction that he had been traveling in, he picked up the pace. Without a warning somebody grabbed his arm and pulled him through a door that he could have sworn was closed a second before. He went to yell out his surprise but felt another hand wrap around his mouth before he could. Somehow a third hand grabbed hold of his wrist as he went to reach for his wand. He was still facing the door that had been closed after him.

A few muttered words that he recognised as a silencing ward and a sealing charm, the hand over his mouth was removed. "Reveal yourself, or should I say selves?"

Someone cast a _Lumos_ as his arm was released but the sudden light caused him to cover his eyes as they adjusted so he couldn't see who cast it. Slowly the light stopped hurting his eyes and he turned to face the rooms other occupants.

It was the ginger twins from earlier in the day. "Harry Potter…" One started.

"… Out and about…" The other twin continued.

It returned to the first twin. "… After curfew…"

"… What trouble are…" Twin number two chimed in.

It ended with the first twin. "… You up to?"

Harry had managed to follow along, just, but instead of speaking up straight away he turned a critical eye on the pair. _How was he best going to approach this situation?_ He was sure they weren't going to turn him in, they were breaking the rules as well after all, but he still didn't know them and what they wanted.

He probably could bring his wand to bare and stun a twin before the other could react, but he wasn't confident that he could stun both before the second would retaliate. He was sure he would win the following duel, but it probably wasn't the smartest plan of action. _Let's call that plan B._

Advancing in a less confrontational manner would probably be best. "You obviously know who I am, unfortunately I don't have the same privilege. If you wouldn't mind, what are your names?"

"I'm Fred Weasley and this idiot is my brother George." The second twin, Fred, introduced the pair.

The other one, George, looked confused at that. "No I'm George. Remember I'm the smart one, you're the boring one."

"If you're the smart one, I'm the sexy one. George and Fred at your service." Fred bowed at Harry.

"No I'm the smart AND sexy one, you're the one who everyone puts up with just so they could hang around me." This statement led to them full on breaking into an argument, where they couldn't decide what traits fitted what twin, and what name belonged to each of them.

After a minute Harry stopped paying attention to what they were saying, and instead turned his attention to the room. The books on the bookshelf made it obvious that it used to be a D.A.D.A room, but Harry guessed not for the best part of a century given the age of the books.

What really intrigued Harry was the cauldron in the corner. It was clean, obviously newer than the books, and Harry walked over to it. It simply didn't fit with the rest of the abandoned room.

There was an unbound scroll of parchment next to it, with several scribbled down variations of the same potion on it. Looking into the cauldron he saw the packages of all the ingredients mentioned sealed inside it. Looking back at the parchment he realised that it wasn't different variations but rather they were attempting to successfully create a potion and the variations were failed attempts.

"This potion, are you trying to change a persons skin colour?" His question brought them out of the argument and their attention snapped to him. They obviously hadn't realised he had moved away from the door.

"What's it to you?" Twin one asked, while twin two nodded his agreement to his brother.

"I know of a potion that changes a persons skin colour and you are close to it. I will tell you if you agree to one thing for me?" He was looking at the twins.

They had a silent conversation before coming to an agreement. Twin two spoke up this time. "What agreement?"

"Tell me honestly which twin is which twin. I don't care about your running joke, and feel free to keep doing it if you're ever around me in public, but in private? In private be forthright and honest. I would like to know who it is I am conversing with." He turned his attention back to the parchment while they considered it.

"If we do agree to it, why? What's in it for you?" This came from twin 1.

"I appreciate a good prank as much as anybody, and you obviously have one planned." That seemed to persuade the pair and they came closer.

The first twin held out his hand. "George Weasley."

Harry shook his hand before turning to the other twin. "You must be Fred then." They shook hands as well.

Fred spoke up. "So what is wrong with the potion?"

"The foxglove leaves need to be crushed, not diced. You are missing knotgrass. Also I don't know what the puranen does in the potion or why you have the sunflower petal in brackets?" He pointed to the relevant parts of the potion as he said it. "Your process is right, except add an extra clockwise turn every time, and the knotgrass goes in when you have added the puranen."

"Puranen is to change the person purple. We are hoping that if we get that to work we can add the sunflower to maybe get yellow polka dots or stripes. What does the knotgrass do?" That came from Fred as George wrote down the new set of instructions under the others.

"I don't know. I don't know any of the ingredients roles in the potion, all I know is that it works. Given its location in the process maybe the knotgrass is what turns the person green, because that's what happens with the potion I know. Who are you planning to use it on?" Harry was curious about its target.

"Our brother Percy…" George started the sentence.

"… He's a prick and deserves it." Fred finished it.

"Percy… Weasley? The prefect?" Harry thought back to his train journey.

"Yeah. Have you had the unfortunate experience of meeting him?" George asked him. Fred had started sorting out the ingredients, putting the ones they would use next to a chopping board while tucking the rest into a sack.

"Yeah on the train. He seemed quite arrogant… No offence." The no offence was added at the end when he remembered he was their brother.

"We aren't offended. You have no idea how bad he is. As we said, he needs to be taken down a peg or two." Fred said this after having finished with sorting the ingredients.

George took hold of Harry's arm and led him to the door. "Watch the Gryffindor table tomorrow morning, it will be well worth it. Fred?"

Fred reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper before carefully studying it. "Clear."

"Wait is that…" Before he could finish the sentence Harry was pushed out the door and had it closed in his face. "… The Marauders Map?"

Obviously they didn't hear him, so Harry turned back to the corridor. Waiting a moment for his eyes to adjust to the soft green that the NVG aspect of his glasses provided he came to a decision. He had done enough exploring for the night, and had a class first period in the morning. It was time for bed.

/

Thursday 5th September, 7:45am.

The Great Hall was full of the standard muffled rumble that was always the case during meals. 250 odd students talking had that effect in the cavernous space. It was actually fairly soothing.

Harry had been there as soon as breakfast started and had stayed seated throughout the entire time, eyes fixed on the Gryffindor table. He had cast his standard detection spells as soon as he arrived and quickly ate his breakfast, so that he could devote his full attention to the Gryffindor's.

Hermione had already come and ate her breakfast next to him, and they talked about classes. She had disappeared towards the library as soon as she was finished and not long after that Kevin took her seat. The boy had tried to engage Harry in conversation but gave up when he realised his classmate was distracted.

Harry had been on high alert as soon as Percy walked in, his eyes following the prefect all the way to his seat. He watched but nothing happened for the first five minutes. Percy was distracted when a first year asked him a question but Harry saw one of the twins, Fred he guessed but it was hard to tell from this distance, slip something into his brothers drink from the other side of the table as he walked past.

A minute after explaining whatever he did to the first year Percy took a drink. A look of confusion crossed his face and he took another drink before smiling and taking a bite of pancake. Harry watched as his skin turned purple, barely holding in a laugh.

The girl seated across from Percy was the first to notice, apart from Harry and the twins, and she burst out laughing all the while pointing at Percy. She was laughing so hard she fell off her seat. Percy looked down at his arms horrified and honest to God screamed.

That drew everybody's attention and soon almost every student was laughing while craning their necks to get a better view. The professors did not seem impressed however and most of them went to check up on the victimised prefect. Snape however marched over towards Harry. _This should be fun._

"Potter! Come with me." Not giving the student a chance to answer he grabbed hold of the boys arm and literally pulled him out of his seat. Harry barely got his feet under him as the Potions Master dragged him to the clustered professors.

"Headmaster, this is the student responsible for the attack." Snape snarled out when they reached the destination.

Harry wretched his arm loose before crossing them over his chest. "I don't know what you're talking about! Why would I attack…" He looked around the professors in an attempt to see Percy. The twins had succeeded fully, for there sat Percy Weasley with purple skin and yellow polka dots. "… Percy?"

"You heard him! He knows the victim, he practically admitted to the crime!" Snape was smirk-grinning now. Harry didn't think that was a word, but it was larger than a standard smirk so he thought it fit.

"Yes I know him, kind of. He helped me and some friends find a lost pet on the train. Why would I attack someone who has helped me? And besides I don't even know what caused this, let alone how to do it." Harry knew that his involvement couldn't be proven.

"A potion! Check Weasley's food and drink for a potion! Potter's father attacked an innocent student when he was here with the same potion." Snape was still yelling, but McGonagall listened to him and started casting detection spells.

Harry had an idea for how to mess with Snape some more, and have some more fun while he was at it. "My dad turned someone purple with yellow polka dots when he was a student? That's pretty cool, and clever."

"No! He turned a victim green, but I'm sure it was the same potion." Snape was snarling now.

"Severus is correct, it was a potion. In Percy's goblet. However what reason would Mr. Potter have for doing this? It's much more likely to be the Weasley twins." Professor McGonagall had finished with her tests. "Severus given the potions nature of this incident, can you brew a potion to counter its affects?"

He snarled once more at Harry before answering. "Of course." He picked up the goblet and left the room.

"I have class soon, I assume I'm free to go?" Harry was struggling to keep a smirk off his face.

"Yes you can go, Mr. Potter. Poppy can you take Percy to the infirmary?" Dumbledore spoke up for the first time since Harry was dragged over.

/

Friday September 6th, 3pm.

Harry was standing outside Flitwick's office once again, but for much less serious reasons this time. His meeting with Flitwick was scheduled to begin any minute now. The door swung open.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Cornfoot. Ah Mr. Potter, please come in." That came from the Professor who said goodbye to one student before welcoming the next.

Harry entered the room and found two comfortable looking armchairs across from each other in front of a roaring fire. Following the professor Harry sat in one of the open chairs while Flitwick hopped into the other one.

"May I interest you in a drink of Butterbeer?" He pointed at a chilled bottle of the popular beverage.

Harry nodded at his teacher. "Yes, thank you Sir."

Filius poured it into two mugs, before levitating one across to the student. "Before we start I have to ask; I know you helped the Weasley twins with the potion yesterday. I am confident it was based off the potion your father used almost two decades ago. Given that it wasn't a malicious prank, or caused damage to anybody, I am not going to tell on you. However I would like to know why you were involved, Percy confirmed that the only time he has interacted with you was on the train finding a toad, so why embarrass him like yesterday?"

Harry got the distinct impression that the Charms Master was disappointed in him. "If I were involved, and by no means am I saying I was, it was simply in a consultant capacity. I may have come across a theoretical potion and made some suggestions to somebody about how to fix it. Theoretically."

Filius nodded at that before shifting to the more standard questions. "How have you found your first week at Hogwarts?"

 **A/N: Hope you all have enjoyed this chapter, I have. I liked to show Harry's curiosity in this chapter, and wanted to introduce the Twins during his investigating. I have got to say making a timetable for Harry was easy, but got a whole lot more complicated when I tried to write one for Flitwick. My original plan for three classes a week for the major subject didn't work because Filius had about 40 classes but there were only 25 slots… When you add marking it seemed like a ridiculous level of work to me. I've cut classes where I think it's appropriate so that Filius has 7 free periods like the one at the start of the last chapter and at the end of this one. Please review.**

 **Apprentice.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Fight and Flight.

Friday September 13th 1991, 1:20pm.

The excitement that most of his year mates felt was palpable, but even more evident was the nerves. All the students were nervous, even those who were looking forward to their first flying lesson, but there were several who seemed overwhelmed by the nerves.

Hermione looked ready to vomit, and she wasn't the only one. Padma Patel, two of the Hufflepuff girls, and one of Badger boys, all looked like they would join her. Harry hoped they wouldn't lose their stomachs.

"Have we got any experienced fliers?" Madam Hooch, the Hogwarts Quidditch referee and flying instructor asked, ready for the lesson to begin.

Harry, Susan Bones and one of the Hufflepuff boys, Ernest Harry believed his name was, put up their hands. Given who Susan's auntie was Harry had made sure to be friendly with her, even doing a Charms assignment with her, and wasn't surprised she could fly.

She hadn't said anything but he was confident that if there were any student in his year that could cause him problems in a fight it was her. He was sure that her Aunt had taught her some nasty hexes and powerful shields.

"Due to a generous donation made recently to the school we have a whole bunch of new Bluebottle brooms, which are great training brooms. They are among the safest ever produced, travel at a nice speed but not too much, and are a smooth ride. There are not many better brooms to learn on so you are all very lucky. However there are two less then students here so Mr. Macmillan and Mr. Potter would you be okay riding some of the older school brooms?" She looked apologetically at the two students.

Harry nodded straight away, but noticed that the other boy took a little longer before acquiescing. Harry had emptied his vault buying the brooms, after much debate with Remus, but didn't care that he was to miss out on using one.

It wasn't one of the things that they had planned on before he came to Hogwarts, but when he found out from one of the older Ravenclaws about the state of the school brooms he had to do something. Talking with Remus about it he found out the school had had old brooms when the Marauders attended school and it seemed like they were the same ones today, making them ancient.

He gave Remus permission to empty his vault and buy as many of the best value training brooms as they could afford, and they brought 19 of the Bluebottle's. Harry now only had 18 galleons and change in his vault, and the leftovers from the 10 galleons he had brought to Hogwarts with him, until New Year's.

He didn't care about money, but it was easier when you had some to fall back on, and it was a luxury that he would not have for a while. He would have to be more cunning from here on out.

He had been at Hogwarts for two weeks, and he had enjoyed that time for the most part but there was something concerning. Two weeks and yet he had spent almost 1500 galleons on the safety of the students. It shouldn't fall to him to protect the students, he was only 11.

1500 galleons wasn't something to scoff at, it was the salary of many witches and wizards in Britain, including all the Hogwarts teachers who weren't head of houses. He had spent a yearly income on protecting his fellow students and he was angry.

He wasn't angry at the loss of money, he really didn't care about it, but the fact that no one else had seen fit to care for the students really got to him. How had none of the teachers, staff or members of the wizarding community realised how dangerous Hogwarts is, especially for a school.

The broom situation was an easy fix. Many of the owners of the broom companies had attended Hogwarts and would have jumped at the chance to be the official broomstick of Hogwarts. Remus had got a 5 galleon per broom discount because of the order size, if he had been representing Hogwarts he probably could have gotten them at cost.

Following Madam Hooch's instructions the students were all lined up in front of a broom, with Harry and Ernest at the end. "Extend your hand out over the broom and then call out up."

"Up!" The broom jumped straight into Harry's hand, and just from the feel of the wood he could tell how old the broom was.

Looking around he saw that all the broomsticks were off the ground, and almost half the students had them in their hands. Macmillan's was about three quarters of the way to his hand, and the boy seemed annoyed that it hadn't raised the whole way when other people's had.

Hermione and a girl from Hufflepuff had barely 4 inches under their brooms, which was the lowest out of all the students, and Harry couldn't help but wonder if brooms read intentions and nerves. He didn't know for sure because he hadn't had any of those problems with his own broom.

He had brought a Nimbus 1700 last September and got it at a great price because of the 2000 model that was about to be released. The store clerk had tried to push Harry into pre-ordering the Nimbus 2000, but Harry and Remus both thought he didn't need the broom that was predicted to be the fastest ever made.

If Harry was a top level Quidditch player the 2000 would be fitting, but Harry felt no desire to play the game. He had watched several professional games of Quidditch when the Caerphilly Catapults or the Tutshill Tornados, his fathers and Remus' teams respectively, had been playing and he thought it was reasonably entertaining.

He loved flying, and felt a level of freedom up among the clouds that he hadn't found anywhere else, but the sport itself felt too restricting to him. Why would you take the freedom of flying and then limit it with a game full of complex rules?

"Good work everyone!" Madam Hooch was walking through the middle of the two lines of students. "Put the broomstick back on the ground and try again. Do not fear the broom, you are in control and it is perfectly safe."

This time 13 of the 21 students had the successful result of broomstick going to hand. Hooch went around making corrections and encouraging those who still hadn't managed to achieve it and soon the whole class were ready to move on to the next stage.

With all the students mounting their broom the instructor went around correcting grips and doing her best to ease any remaining nerves. She then instructed them in how to take off and the importance of being gentle with the broomsticks. "The brooms respond to you, so don't force them. Gently persuade them to rise, to turn, or to descend, there is no need for you to be forceful. Easy does it. 1, 2, 3 and push."

Harry, like the rest of the students, kicked of the ground and hovered in the air. "Good! Good, you are all flying! Congratulations." Madam Hooch seemed pleased.

Many of the students feet were only inches off the ground, but Harry was a full five feet in the air. He held it steady, as they had been instructed, but he saw that most of the students wobbled on the broom.

Remus was right; he was a natural on the broom. Harry had no problems his first time flying, on Remus' old Cleansweep, and was soon zooming around like a professional much to his guardian's amusement.

Initially Harry had thought that he would play Quidditch as a way of being closer to his father, but after experiencing the joys of flying he wasn't willing to limit them. He knew that there were other ways to be close to his father and would have to settle for them.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Macmillan, Miss Bones can you fly a little higher and show me some of your skills? Accelerate, brake, turn, show me what you are comfortable doing please." Madam Hooch turned to the experienced fliers as the others settled into practicing lifting off the ground and returning to it.

The three took to the skies, but it quickly came apparent that Harry was the best pilot by a long way. He dipped and turned, accelerated and dived, soaring higher and faster the whole time. He was enjoying himself so much that he didn't realise he had attracted an audience.

The rest of the students had stopped to stare, pointing him out to one another and making comments about what they were watching. Muggleborn and Pureblood alike had never seen such a display. Even those who had watched professional Quidditch matches found it amazing.

/

Knowing his first year students were having their first flying lesson today, and having no class for the fourth period of the day, Filius decided that he would go watch the flying as he dismissed his class. It was always pleasurable to watch the firsties fall in love with flying, or at least comfortable on the broom.

He hurried down the main stairs and out the door and strode purposely towards the Quidditch pitch in the distance. It was the best point of reference for the training field used for flying lessons, and he made quick progress.

He was almost there when he noticed that all the students were standing there pointing up at the sky, so naturally he looked at where they were pointing. A blur was high in the air, twisting, turning, climbing and diving, in an unmatched display of athleticism.

"Looks like Rolanda is giving them a display." He barked out a laugh before his gaze was drawn back to the students on the ground.

Standing among them was the flying instructor. _If Rolanda is there, who is up there?_ He hurried over to the group.

"Rolanda who is that up there? Is it a student?" The shock was evident in his tone, so much so that even he heard it

"Filius! What are you doing out here? That is young Potter up there, quite spectacular isn't he?" Her shock at his sudden appearance quickly bled into her excitement at the flying display they were watching.

Flitwick didn't know what to say to that, so just stood silently watching the boy fly. James Potter had been a skilled flier and Quidditch player, but his son was obviously a better flier at 11 then James had been in his last year at Hogwarts. _Imagine James ego if he could fly like that? He was bad enough as he was._

Harry dipped into a steeper dive then any of his previous ones and was hurtling towards the earth, as those around Filius gasped out their shock. The professor drew his wand but even he couldn't cast quick enough to help. The boy was going to hit the ground.

At the last possible second Harry pulled out of the dive, his shoes skimming the ground, and started decelerating as he approached the crowd. Filius couldn't help himself and joined the applause of the audience as Potter touched down and got off the broom.

"Mr. Potter that was truly spectacular, you are a natural." Hooch praised the teen. "What do you fly at home?"

"A Nimbus 1700 Madam." The boy was inspecting the brooms bristles as he answered.

"Harry, will you be trialling for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team? We could use a man of your talents." Flitwick interjected, already envisioning the Quidditch cup in his office.

"Sorry Professor Flitwick but I don't want to play Quidditch." The boy smiled apologetically at him.

Those who grew up in the wizarding world gasped, shocked at what he had just said. Hooch looked like she had been slapped, which showed just how much the game was idolised in their world.

"Well I am sorry to hear that, but I respect your decision. Hogwarts is a school after all, and your class-work should be your first priority." He smiled at the boy before turning to the rest of the students. "Who has been enjoying their first flying lesson?"

More than half the kids raised their hands which Filius was happy to see. "Michael what is your favourite part of the lesson so far?"

/

The flying lesson had been completed and the students had all gotten changed, and now the Ravenclaw first-years were at Greenhouse 2 for Herbology. Harry was paired up with Lisa Turpin and the two were enjoying a pleasant conversation.

Today's lesson was on trimming Asphodel and so the students were able to engage in conversation as they worked, which wasn't always the case, and the pair were making the most of it. It made class much more enjoyable.

Lisa's father was a healer at St. Mungo's, the magical hospital in London, and had an interesting case he was currently working on. He had told Lisa about it in a letter and now her and Harry were having a debate about it.

"All I'm saying is that just because none of the Healer's can diagnose it doesn't mean it's a new disease. It could be a muggle one, or one from overseas that no Healer in the U.K has come across before. The woman is unconscious so you can't ask her if she has been travelling recently but she could have easily been in… Mongolia say, and picked up a local disease there. All I'm saying is that maybe they shouldn't rush to name it just yet." It still surprised Harry just how ignorant most witches and wizards were to the world outside of the magical British community.

Lisa was going to respond, but stopped when she saw a boy approaching them. It was the blond prat of Slytherin, Draco Malfoy. She was instantly tense and Harry noticed the change in her attitude.

He looked over his shoulder and saw who was approaching and understood her shift. He looked back at her and smiled at her before winking.

"Potter! I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you would be in the hospital wing after your flying lesson." The two goons, and Pansy Parkinson, who were with him laughed at that.

Harry just rolled his eyes at Lisa and trimmed another branch of the Asphodel. He knew it was petty, but he found it funny how easily Malfoy was provoked by just ignoring him.

"Oi Potter! I'm talking to you!" The Slytherin was fuming now.

"Really? Oh my bad, I didn't realise you were capable of speech Draco." He winked at Lisa again as she snorted in laughter.

"Your just jealous because Hooch said I'm the best flyer she has ever seen." The blond boy smirked at him.

Harry smiled warmly at him when he heard that. "Really? Because I heard that she tod you that you were flying all wrong, and when you bragged that she must be mistaken because you had been flying for years she told you that you had been flying wrong for years then."

"What would a half-blood like you know about it anyways." Draco growled out. _How had Potter heard about that?_

"What ever makes you feel better about being a failure Drakey-Boy. Just remember many 5-year-olds also struggle on a broom so you aren't alone." Lisa couldn't control herself at that and Harry himself was only just managing to keep a straight face.

"You dare call me a failure! How about we settle this with a wizards duel? Not too scared are you Potter?" Draco snarled out the first part, then smiled mockingly at Harry for the last sentence.

"Of course not. How about you challenge me properly, or are you going to back out of it?" Harry knew he had to be careful with how he approached this, otherwise he might scare Draco off.

It may seem weird for him to want to duel a fellow student after only two weeks, but Malfoy deserved it. In their first interaction Draco had offered to help teach Harry about the magical world.

That may seem nice, but it wasn't. In less then two minutes Draco had insulted Harry's house, friends, mother and the boy himself, all while claiming to be better than Harry and everybody else. On top of all that Harry was fully aware of who Malfoy's father was, and whom he had supported during the War.

Harry had turned the boy down, as politely as possible, but Draco had still taken it personally. Since that time he had insulted or tried to provoke Harry at every possible chance, and it was really starting to piss Harry off. He thought that it was about time for him to each the boy a lesson.

"I just challenged you Potter." Draco was attempting to sound brave, but Harry could see he was starting to become afraid.

"Not formally, and you know it. Challenge me properly, unless you are as big of a coward as your father." Harry knew that would be enough to push him over the edge.

"My father is not a coward! He is a great man, much better than yours!" Rage was emanating from Malfoy.

"They why did he always run from the fighting when he was a Death Eater? I know that he ran away from my father on 5 separate occasions, not exactly the actions of a great man." That was the straw that broke the camels back, as Harry twisted the knife deeper.

Draco snarled. "I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, challenge Harry Potter to a wizards duel."

Harry was thrilled but saw the fear on Lisa's face so smiled encouragingly at her. "I, Harry James Potter, accept the challenge from Draco Lucius Malfoy."

There was a soft red glow that encapsulated the pair, and what had happened seemed to catch up with Malfoy as terror crossed his face. "Um… Your second… Who is your second?" Draco was rattled and it showed.

"No seconds. Just me verse you." Harry didn't want to have to worry about somebody else.

"Midnight. Tonight." Draco was barely able to scrape those two words out.

Harry just smiled. "No. I want an audience when I beat you. Tomorrow, 2pm, at the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch."

"No! Tonight!" A new wave of fear washed over him when he realised that there could be witnesses.

Harry just tutted at him. "Draco, Draco, Draco… You and I both know the rules of a duel. The person who gets challenged gets to pick the time and place. The have up to 1 month from the time of the challenge but must give an hours warning. Tomorrow, 2pm, in the middle of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch. Maybe your daddy will be able to make it to watch you lose."

Professor Sprout walked up then. "What is going on? I saw a magical glow, what have you done?"

She seemed angry, and harry didn't blame her. This was all happening during class after all. "Draco here just challenged me to a wizards duel, and I accepted."

Pomona was shocked. "A wizards duel? That is incredibly dangerous! Do you know what you have just done?"

"Yes, Professor." He put his hand comfortingly on her arm. "I promise not to seriously harm him, just teach him a lesson."

/

Saturday September 14th, 1:45pm.

Harry was stretching, loosening up his limbs and muscles. He was ready for what was about to happen, but it was best not to go into a duel tense.

Dumbledore had tried to stop the duel, but had reluctantly let it go ahead when he found out that it was magically sealed. He wasn't the only one, as Lucius had had a fit. He had threatened everybody he could, including the Minister for Magic, to get it cancelled but had folded when it finally got through his thick skull that Draco might become a squib if that happened.

The school had been officially told about the duel at breakfast this morning, but by the end of dinner yesterday almost the entire school body already knew about it. There had been little else talked about since, and by the sound of it the entire school was in the stands above him.

Malfoy senior had tried to complain when Flitwick offered his services as duel-referee, complained that as Harry's head of house he was biased, but the Charms Master pointed out that he was the only member of staff qualified for it. Lucius had said that he would find a professional umpire, but Filius pointed out that it would be impossible to arrange in less than a days notice unless Malfoy payed for one.

He pointed out that he was also Draco's teacher, so couldn't be biased, but if Lucius payed for a ref he would most certainly be biased. Malfoy had just snarled before marching out, Draco following him like a lost puppy.

Bringing his concentration back to the present he focused on the upcoming duel. Undoubtedly Lucius had taught junior some nasty hexes, and he couldn't let the Slytherin boy hit him with anything.

Fiendfyre, and the three Unforgivables were the only spells not allowed in a wizards duel, along with outside interference. Harry wasn't too concerned about the wide range of spells allowed however given the probable limitations facing Draco; spell knowledge, ability to cast spells, and the limited power most first years had.

"Welcome all to this wizards duel. It is a shame that two young men have believed themselves so aggrieved to consider this, but here we are." The voice of Professor McGonagall boomed out around the arena. "If you can divert your attention to the Northern entrance, Harry Potter, the challenged individual will enter."

Giving it a moment, and several breaths to calm down, Harry stepped into the pitch. He didn't acknowledge the cheering crowd, but set his expression into his game face.

"The challenger, Draco Malfoy, will now enter from the Southern entrance." Minerva's voice rang out once more. Harry watched, but it took a whole minute before the other boy exited the changing room he had been in.

The two walked to the middle of the pitch, where there was a raised stage that Flitwick was standing on. He indicated that the students were to join him on the stage, which they did.

The professor raised his wand to his throat before speaking. "The rules for this duel are simple. There are to be no Unforgivables, and Cursed Fire is also banned. The duel is until one of you is disarmed or incapacitated, but not until death. There will be no outside interference, and I will only step in if the duel is over but the winner is still casting."

The two duellers had been informed earlier in the day about rules, and Filius was only saying it for the crowd. "Bow."

The pair dipped their heads stiffly, certainly not a proper bow, and then got into their starting positions. Both held their wands aloft, ready to begin. Harry jumped up and down twice.

"Ready. Set. Cast!" Flitwick called out the beginning of the duel.

Instantly Draco cast an orange spell, but Harry didn't recognise what the Slytherin had said or what was coming towards him. Harry waited until the last second before simply stepping to the side.

Draco was smirking as soon as he cast the first spell, which only grew as it approached Harry without the Ravenclaw casting any of his own spells. His jaw however dropped when Harry simply stepped to the side.

Draco took a second to recover, before casting the same orange curse once again. Harry simply stepped the other way and let it sail past. Draco sent the spell at him again.

Harry realised why he kept casting the same spell, it was the only offensive spell Lucius had taught him, or the only one Draco had managed to successfully learn. It probable was fairly nasty and they were hoping that it would catch Harry out and end the duel right away.

Instead of dodging the third attempt, and to show that he actually had some spells at his disposal, Harry raised a standard Shield Charm. Draco's curse clattered into it before dispersing straight away.

The Slytherin was shocked that Harry could cast a _Protego_ but figured it wouldn't hold up to much. He cast his spell twice more in quick succession, not realising that he was only tiring himself out. Neither spell pierced the shield.

Draco went to cast the spell for the sixth time, but nothing happened. A wave of weariness overwhelmed him and he stumbled. He looked up just in time to see Harry react.

Harry dropped his shield and cast _Stupefy_ at his opponent, before instantly taking two steps to the left and casting _Expelliarmus_. The blue of Harry's stunning spell hit Draco right in the chest a split second before the scarlet disarming charm did the same.

Harry instantly drew his wand-arm to his side, wand pointed down, to show that he was not going to cast any more spells and that the duel was over. He turned around and left the stage, heading towards the changing room he had been allocated. He ignored the cheering crowd, McGonagall declaring him the winner, and Flitwick reviving his beaten opponent.

 **A/N: The next chapter of T.W.A.T.S for you all, hope you like it as much as I do. Don't worry, I haven't ruled out the possibility of Harry stepping in as an emergency player for the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team in a game. I know it seems weird that Draco tired himself out with six spells, but as I envision it there is a reason stronger spells are taught to older students. Your magic stabilises when you are about 10 (why Hogwarts starts after you turn 11 because stability will be guaranteed by then), and continues to strengthen until about 17 when it reaches it's potential, and so casting a fairly powerful spell 6 times in quick succession would wear out an 11 year old. Let me know if you agree with this assessment of magical development. Please review!**

 **Apprentice.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Monday 16th September 1991.

Harry walked into History of Magic and looked around for where to sit. Su Li had an empty seat next to her, and he hadn't sat next to her in almost a week, so made his way to her table.

Halfway there an arm reached out and grabbed his elbow, pulling him onto a stool. Looking at who pulled him he realised it was the Twins younger brother.

Giving the boy the benefit of the doubt, despite his rude behaviour, he greeted the boy. "Mr. Weasley, how are you today?"

"Harry mate! The way you taught that filthy snake a lesson on Saturday was awesome! I would have attacked straight away, defending yourself is a waste of time. I would have hit him with my first spell if I were you, before he even cast. Imagine how embarrassing that would have been for him." The Gryffindor just kept talking.

Harry, trying to stay respectful, responded. "I hope by filthy snake you are referring to Malfoy individually and not the entire Slytherin house?"

Ron Weasley scoffed at that. "Both. Malfoy is a filthy snake, and so is the whole house."

"I hope you can learn to change that view." Harry pulled out his textbook and writing equipment. "Slytherin house has had a long and proud history and has produced many exceptional witches and wizards, just as all the houses have."

Ron wasn't having a bar of it. "All Dark witches and wizards are from Slytherin. They should just kick out the house and not allow anybody sorted into it to attend Hogwarts."

Harry couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. Ron looked at him and smiled, thinking Harry was laughing in agreement with the statement. What he didn't realise was Harry was laughing because of how ridiculous it was.

"Do you realise who you sound like?" Harry had finally regained control over himself and had stopped laughing.

"No, who?" Ron smiled, thinking the boy meant Dumbledore.

Harry's eyes went hard. "Voldemort. You sound like Voldemort."

Weasley gasped, and so did the two Gryffindor students seated behind them. First it was Harry saying Voldemort that shocked them, and then what he said sunk in and hit them even harder.

"Hey! How dare you say that! I'm the opposite; I don't want people like the Death Eaters at Hogwarts, not Muggleborns! I'm nothing like them!" His indignation was evident.

Harry roles his eyes at that. "Your attitude is exactly the same as theirs, just with a different target. They are afraid of what the New-Bloods could do so don't want them to learn magic, while you are worried that a Slytherin might go Dark so don't want them to learn magic. It's the exact same belief that they had, but just aimed at a different target."

Ron just glared at Harry, still unable to believe that Harry was comparing him to the Death Eaters! How could his best mate treat him like that?

When Ron didn't respond, Harry continued well aware that they now had an audience. "I also don't know where you are getting your information from, but it's wrong. Not every Dark magical was in Slytherin, and most certainly not every Slytherin is Dark! In the early 1800's a Hufflepuff wizard tried to become the ruler of Scandinavia and was considered a Dark Lord. There have been Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students have gone on to be called Dark witches and wizards, or have been lieutenants to Dark Lord's or Lady's. The Death Eaters, Voldemort's…" He paused to roll his eyes as everyone reacted at that. "The Death Eaters had members from every house, not just Slytherin, so I would fact-check your source because obviously they either don't know what they are talking about or are lying to you for some reason."

"My mum told me about Slytherin, so you are wrong!" Obviously Harry didn't know what he was saying, because Ron's mum knew the truth.

Harry shook his head at that. "Your mother is a Prewitt wasn't she?" Ron nodded. "Well then she knows for a fact that not all the Death Eaters were Slytherin because the three that were arrested for killing one of her brothers only had one Slytherin. The other two had been in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

Finished with his lesson Harry turned his attention to Professor Binns who was rattling on like he didn't even notice that half the students were listening to Harry and a handful were already asleep. Harry did his best to concentrate on the teacher and ignore the glaring boy next to him.

/

Thursday 31st October 1991, 6:00pm.

Harry left the Ravenclaw rooms into a still and silent Hogwarts. Everyone else was already in the Great Hall, no doubt enjoying a feast, but Harry couldn't stomach being there.

For Harry it was not a joyous occasion. It was the ten-year anniversary of his parents' murder, and Harry couldn't even consider spending the evening with cheerful teens. No, tonight he was visiting someone else.

Harry was going to see Remus for the first time in nearly two months. Remus had a picnic basket and was waiting at the end of one of the secret tunnels out of Hogwarts. Harry couldn't wait to see Moony.

Harry had wanted to have a meeting with his Uncle sooner, but they both knew that Dumbledore had been watching Harry. The interfering old man would be too distracted with the feast tonight and wouldn't be able to keep tabs on Harry. At least that was the idea.

Remus knew just how important it was for him to be with Harry on this night and would move heaven and earth to be there for the kid tonight. Knowing that Albus might get alerted if he crossed the wards, he was waiting at the entrance to the tunnel. He didn't know why but he had an uneasy feeling about tonight.

He was sure it would go away when he saw Prongslet, but for now he was on edge. The wolf was on alert, hairs raised, and Remus wasn't sure why because it had been over a week since the full moon. Remus kept fiddling with his wand, ready for anything.

For Harry he was full of excitement and joy thinking of the coming meal with his guardian. It was because of this that he wasn't paying attention to his surrounding as he walked towards the passage entrance on the first floor.

He went around the final corner and came to a sudden halt. It took several seconds for his brain to process what was in front of him, and longer for him to believe what he was seeing.

A 12-foot tall mountain troll was in front of him, luckily for Harry facing the other direction. Taking a slow step backwards his shoe squeaked and he became stock-still. For 5 seconds it looked like he would get away with it but then, almost in slow motion, the troll turned around.

Harry was in the middle of the corridor, with nowhere to hide, and the troll saw him right away. It looked confused at Harry's presence, but took a step towards him. A quarter of the gap between the two closed with that single step.

Knowing he couldn't run fast enough to escape it Harry had no choice but to draw his wand. Looking into the trolls eyes Harry realised that it had made a decision. It was no longer confused.

No, instead it looked angry. Harry didn't know why it was angry, but assumed it had something to do with him being a human. He didn't blame it, after all most witches and wizards treated magical beings, including trolls, appallingly.

It raised its club, which looked to be taller than Harry, and swung it at the boy. Raising a _Protego_ shield, Harry tensed.

The sound the impact made had the Ravenclaw's ears ringing. Unlike with Draco's spell, the impact nature of the attack broke the shield, but the shield had also achieved its goal and stopped the club.

Unfortunately for Harry the forward energy caused by the clubs momentum had to go somewhere, and that somewhere was Harry. He was flung backwards and hit the wall behind him. He distinctly heard his ribs crack.

Harry was worried now, knowing that he wouldn't have the power to penetrate the thick skin of a troll with any spells. The pain made it hard for the boy to concentrate, and the broken ribs would make it impossible for Harry to even try to run away.

He needed a plan, and quickly, because the troll had once again focused on Harry after spending a minute looking at the club wondering why it hadn't hit the human. Eyes darting around the corridor, almost in full panic mode, the kids gaze settled on the club.

Just inches above the troll's hand a large crack had appeared, and Harry decided that was his best plan of attack. He raised his wand and cast the most powerful stunning charm he could. Instead of aiming at the troll he aimed at the club held in its right hand.

The red light hit the end of the club, and Harry smiled when the club broke off leaving only a stump in the hand of the mountain troll. Not realising what happened the creature swung at the boy, and missed him by almost two feet.

It looked shocked that his plan was thwarted a second time, and stared at his hand wondering how the club had disappeared. He opened his palm and the stump fell out, clattering on the stone floor. Without his weapon of choice it simply drew its fist back.

The hand flew forward, in a simple straight jab, and Harry barely had the time to realise how fast it was travelling. The boy ducked, closing his eyes.

The stone behind him shook as the fist hit the wall, cracking the stone. The troll let out a loud yell, pain emanating from the broken hand. The fist had missed the boy's head by mere inches.

Slowly moving to the side, hoping that the troll was too distracted to notice, Harry started inching away. He had almost made ten meters distance before the troll looked at him again.

Harry's eyes grew wide as the troll literally charged at him. Harry cursed his luck, because he was only a meter away from the next corner and being able to find a place to hide.

The troll lowered its head, obviously planning on simply running over the kid. Diving to the side, and hoping he fell outside of the troll's path, Harry watched it sweep past. A new wave of pain hit Harry as his ribs made contact with stone once more.

Harry gasped out as the air was forcibly ejected from his body. He couldn't take the time to worry about it as he watched the troll run at full steam, head first, into the castle wall. It hit the wall so hard three of the large bricks were knocked into the room on the other side.

The troll teetered for a moment before tumbling to the ground unconscious. Harry was thankful that it fell the other way, because he was sure he wouldn't have been able to evade it and would have been crushed.

They must have made a racket the last few minutes because a cluster of staff came rushing up the hall, after the danger had passed. How they had only managed to arrive after it was unconscious made no sense to Harry, but his ribs hurt too much for him to focus on anything else.

"Mr. Potter!" Professor McGonagall was the first to arrive. "What is the meaning of this? What are you doing out of the dorms?"

Oddly enough, the first thing that came to Harry was wonder at how the first person to arrive was the stern woman, given Snape was a much younger man. The stray thoughts that one had when in excruciating pain would be amusing at any other time.

"Hospital… First… So much… Pain…" It hurt every time he breathed, but because his lungs never seemed to fill he had to breathe more frequently then he would like. "Ribs… Broke…"

He started to fall over but Filius, who had only just arrived thanks to his shorter legs, quickly cast a charm to catch the boy. Not even waiting for the other professors to interfere he levitated the unconscious boy and set off for the Hospital Wing.

/

Harry came to, hurting all over. He was lying down on a bed, but not his own, and the sterile smell alerted him to where he was.

He heard an argument and realised that was what had dragged him out of unconsciousness. It was between Professor Flitwick and the Headmaster.

"Filius, your duty is to your whole house. Go to them, Mr. Potter is quite safe here." That was Dumbledore.

Harry was worried that the Charms Master would agree, but didn't want to alert them to him being awake just yet. Idly he wondered where the nurse was.

He fear proved unfounded. "Septima is with my Eagles, Harry needs me more right now! And don't act innocent I knew what you were trying to cast before I stopped you. Reading his mind is illegal Albus, and unless you have a signed note from Amelia Bones giving permission to read his mind for this incident and you try again I will hex you into next year. And don't speak of duty to me, your duty is to the whole school so go out there and find how your wards allowed a troll into a school!"

If anybody else had spoken like that to Albus Dumbledore Harry was sure that he would have scolded them and maybe even fired them. It was not an idle threat however, because if anybody could give the old man a run for his money it is the former World Champion dueller. Dumbledore was also in hot water with the goblins and firing Filius would lock him out from the bank forever.

He heard footsteps approaching and tensed up, before realising they were coming from the other side of the room from where the pair were arguing. He heard a woman's voice cast some spells on him.

Harry didn't recognise many of them, but they sounded like medical charms. She whispered to him. "Don't worry I won't tell them that you are awake."

Two minutes later he heard the light footfalls as Filius approached. "How are you feeling Harry? It's safe, Albus has left."

"It bloody hurts. How long was I out?" He cracked his eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the light.

Filius laughed at that, but not cruelly he was just surprised. "Only about five minutes. How about you tell me what happened."

"I didn't want to be with everyone today. They were all celebrating, but it's not a day for partying. It's the ten-year anniversary of my parents murder!" Flipus nodded sadly at that while Harry paused to drink a potion the matron handed him. "So I went for a walk, turned the corner and wham! There was a troll. How the hell did a troll get into Hogwarts?"

Filius answered him while the boy drank a second potion. "We don't know, yet, but I will get to the bottom of it. What happened next?"

"My shoe squeaked when I tried to escape, it had been facing away from me, and it heard it. It turned around and saw me there." He had to wait as the nurse cast two healing spells on him. "It swung its club, and with no other option I cast a shield. It stopped the club, but threw me back into the wall behind me, breaking my ribs. I saw the club had started to break so I cast stupefy at it, it being the only near-impact spell I know, and I got lucky because the club snapped off. It tried to punch me and I ducked, and I think it broke its hand when it hit the wall instead of me. I tried escaping but it charged me. I dived out of the way and it knocked itself out running head first into the wall."

Filius laughed at that, confusing the boy. "Harry, it didn't knock itself out. It hit the wall so hard it broke its skull open and killed itself."

Having returned the boy to full health the nurse returned to whatever it was she did while not attending to patients, leaving Harry and Filius alone. The part-goblin jumped up into a seat and pulled a book out of his pocket, expanding the book back to its proper size.

"Thank you Professor." Harry mumbled out, before falling asleep.

/

Friday 1st November, 8:00.

Remus was seated at his table, poking at his porridge more than eating it. He had only gotten an hour of sleep the previous night, after waiting 6 extra hours for Harry to turn up. He didn't know why the boy hadn't made their rendezvous and he was barely holding in his panic.

An owl flouted in the open window clutching the mornings Daily Prophet. He knew that most of what they printed was lies or Ministry propaganda, but there often was a hint of truth in it that you could find if you tried. It was also important to know what the Wizarding World was being told.

He gave the owl 4 knuts, and put the paper to the side while taking a drink of coffee. Unfortunately it was at that time that he read the main story's headline and he lost that coffee as he spat it out.

 _Troll attack at Hogwarts: Boy-Who-Lives in Hospital._

Scrambling to pick up the paper he read through the article. It was more speculation than fact, but it claimed that a troll had somehow got into the castle and Harry had tracked it down, killing it but injuring himself in the process. Dumbledore refused to speak when asked about it, but an anonymous staff member was on record as saying that Harry had broken ribs, a shoulder and had lots of internal injuries but Madam Pomfrey had him healing well.

D.M.L.E boss Amelia Bones had also been asked to comment but had said that unfortunately nobody had come to her department to report the incident and therefore had not been able to investigate. She was quoted as saying 'If such an event has happened me and my Aurors want to investigate how it has happened, but until Dumbledore or somebody else officially tells us our hands are tied.' Remus knew what he had to do.

The fire flashed, and Callum tumbled out of the Floo, obviously in such a hurry he didn't even take the time to settle himself before he fell out of the fire. "Is it true? Is Harry alright?"

"I don't know. We were meant to meet last night, but he never showed up which has me worried that it may be. If Harry has been in the Hospital all night that would explain him not getting in contact yet. I expect Flilus will get in contact soon." He got up from the table, and grabbed a box before heading to the Floo. "I need to talk to the boss."

They both travelled through the fire, and soon were at Barty's office. "I have already contacted Filius. It's true, kind of. Harry was out for a walk and didn't even know about the troll until he stumbled upon it. He got lucky, but he is recovering well. He will be in classes this afternoon."

Filius, of course, was the inside man that MI-M had at Hogwarts. The goblins knew all about MI-M and were happy for when it took over fully from the Ministry. After all the MI-M held none of the same prejudices that currently existed in the magical world.

They were also supported by the Queen, and because of this alliance the Goblin King had met the British monarch for the first time in 400 years. He had also been invited to Buckingham Palace to meet other world leaders who had visited the U.K including two US Presidents.

A perfect example of the lack of prejudice in the MI-M was the three people in the room. There was a muggleborn, a werewolf and a vampire. There also were plenty of 'Pureblood' employees, but your status outside of work meant nothing to the agency.

"I am going to tell Bones to investigate it. I will have to inform her that I am his legal guardian, but she is the only person in the Ministry that knows of the MI-M so it will be fine." The box in his hand held the adoption paperwork among all the other important documents about Harry to back his claim up.

Bartolommeo looked at him for a moment before nodding. "That is your decision, but I agree that it is the best move. Her occlumency is top draw, she won't tell anyone of your connection to the child."

 **A/N: What do you all think of this chapter? I'm going on holiday tomorrow so I don't know when I will next post a chapter but hopefully I can write one or two while I'm away so get them up as soon as I get home. Please review this chapter. I am currently debating who to pair up with Harry is this fic, so feel free to weigh in with your reviews. I am not considering any of the three women from my other fanfic, or a multiple relationship. I am leaning towards either Susan Bones or Luna, but try and persuade me otherwise if you would prefer somebody else.**

 **Apprentice.**


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